Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Genetically modified food : How Indian companies are responding to this threat?

Genetically modified food : How Indian companies are responding to this threat?
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Here is a message from GreenPeace India, which is not related to Mahagunpuram, but a serious concern to our future. Please read the message and be careful in choosing a brand for at what you are eating?

44,426 letters and all the calls to Sonia Gandhi had some impact on the Government. The Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India Bill did not make it to the Parliament. The bill in its current form plans to create an autocratic body to allow genetically modified (GM) food into our country.

To take one more step towards safe food, Greenpeace has now launched the second edition of the Safe Food Guide. This guide ranks major food manufacturers on the basis of the stance they have taken on GM food.

With the help of this guide you can check where the manufacturer of your favourite food brand stands on keeping food safe. The Safe Food Guide can be accessed online.

Check out the Safe Food Guide 2.0 to see where your favourite food manufacturer stands.

http://greenpeace.in/safefood/safe-food-guide/

You can also SMS Food BRAND_NAME to 56070 to find out where its manufacturer ranks in the guide. The brand name will give you the most accurate result.

The Safe Food Guide tries to make food manufacturers answerable to the consumer. As consumers we need to question the badly ranked companies about the safety of the products they produce for us.

The companies are categorised into red, green and yellow based on their current and long-term policies on the use of GM food, willingness to inform their position to consumers and pro-activeness in ensuring a labelling and liability regime on foods derived from GM crops.

Some brands, which were ranked high in the first version of the guide have been ranked lower in the new version. This is mainly because the first guide focused on companies’ current policy on the use of GM food and the second one has extended its parameters to include future long-term policies on the use of GM foods. Their lack of willingness to be transparent and to ensure a GM free market for Indian consumers is also responsible for the low ranking.

Find out where your favourite food manufacturer stands in this guide:

http://greenpeace.in/safefood/safe-food-guide/

or

SMS Food 
BRAND_NAME to 56070.

Thanks a billion!

Shivani Shah
Sustainable Agriculture Campaigner
Greenpeace India

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