Environmentalists vie for Green Figures awards

ChinaDaily, BEIJING, Nov. 14 -- Coca-Cola has been named along with 106 brands in a Greenpeace guide of companies that have committed not to use GM (genetically modified) ingredients.

The shoppers' guide was released by Greenpeace in Beijing yesterday.

"In China, we use high fructose corn syrup produced from non-biotech corn, sugar cane and beet, for which biotech versions are not being commercially grown," Coca Cola told Greenpeace China.

It is the second shoppers' guide Greenpeace has compiled for consumers in China.

As well as the 107 brands that have committed not to use GM ingredients, the guide also points the finger at 110 brands, including Nestle, that have not committed to a non-GM policy. According to Greenpeace, these companies' products may well contain GM ingredients, which shoppers can bear in mind when browsing supermarket shelves.

Currently in China, only some basic products made from soy, corn, green rape, cotton and tomatoes are required to carry a GM or non-GM mark. However, other foods, which use these raw ingredients, are not required to display whether they are GM or not.

"If the price is the same, I will definitely choose the non-GM foods," said Wang Guixia, an elderly woman in Beijing.

"Before reading the guide, I never paid attention to whether or not products contained GM ingredients," said Zhang Xitai, a retired worker in Beijing. "I can't remember ever seeing products labelled saying that they contain GM ingredients."