Greenpeace 'cows' invaded Sainsbury's flagship store in Greenwich, London

London shoppers are getting a taste of the countryside today after Greenpeace released more than thirty costume cows into the flagship Sainsbury's store in Greenwich. The invasion is a protest against the supermarket chain's continued support for the GM industry.

Sainsbury's own-brand milk comes from cows fed on American GM animal feed. Although the company claims to lead its rivals in providing quality food, Sainsbury's is supporting the import of thousands of tonnes of GM into the UK every month.

With the government about to announce that GM maize will soon be grown here - most of which will be fed to dairy cows - Sainbury's is in a position to deal a blow to Britain's GM industry before it gets on its feet. If Sainsbury's is serious about quality, say the protesters, it should turn its back on GM milk today.

The Greenpeace cows were released into the store by milkmen at 10.30am this morning. Several of the animals are currently chained to the dairy aisle while others are tethered to the entrance. Some of the bovine protesters are on the store's roof with a five metre high milk bottle, on which is printed the message "GM MILK SOLD HERE". The cows say they will only leave when Sainsbury's agrees to stop selling GM milk.

Greenpeace campaigner Emma Gibson said:

"The GM maize that Tony Blair wants British farmers to grow will mostly be used to feed dairy cows. Sainsbury's can help stop GM in its tracks by turning its back on this GM milk. Sainsbury's shoppers have been clear on GM, they don't want to buy it and they don't want to see it on supermarket shelves. If Sainsbury's wants to live up to the claims it makes in its advertisements it should listen to its customers and stop selling GM milk. It's one thing to say you only sell quality products, but when those products fund the cultivation and import of huge amounts of harmful GM crops, it's time to make a change."

Already Marks & Spencer has made a commitment to only sell milk from cows fed on non-GM. The GM crops that feed Sainsbury's cows come mostly from America, where studies show GM has harmed the environment.

Emma Gibson added: "If Tony Blair allows GM to be grown here, Sainsbury's buying policy could soon be harming the British countryside as well."

Further information
For more information/pictures/broadcast footage call 020 7865 8255

Cows at feeding time

A new consumer guide to genetically modified food shows how the controversial technology is slipping onto our supermarket shelves. The updated Greenpeace Shopper's Guide lists scores of products that come from animals fed on GM food, and details how some major retailers are failing to tackle the issue.

A totally original league table of the top ten British supermarkets shows Tesco, Morrisons and Iceland at the bottom. The stores can't guarantee that many of their own brand products are not from animals fed on GM and appear to have done little to remove GM-fed animal products from their shops.

At the top of the list sits Marks & Spencer, whose fresh meat and eggs are sourced through supply chains which use non-GM feeds. None of the ten can guarantee its own brand milk comes from cows fed on a GM-free diet, but M&S is working towards eliminating GM feed from all its dairy products.

The Shopper's Guide asked each of the top ten food retailers to outline its policy on the use of GM-feed for its own brand animal products. The retailers were marked for their commitment to supply own brand non-GM fed beef, pork, chicken, lamb, fish, eggs and dairy. M&S were able to guarantee that all but its dairy was derived from animals fed on non-GM. Tesco, however, could not guarantee its beef, pork, lamb and dairy are not fed on GM. In addition Tesco and other retailers continue to stock other brands that use GM-fed animal products while seeming to make little effort to end the practice.

All major British supermarkets pledged to keep GM foods off their shelves after a consumer backlash. But millions of pounds worth of products from animals fed on GM are still sold every day in the UK. Each year hundreds of thousands of tonnes of GM animal feed is shipped to Britain from America.

As well as the league table, the new on-line Shopper's Guide carries a representative sample of the lines stocked by each of the top ten retailers - own brand and otherwise. It lists products in three categories - red, amber and green. The red list contains products that are derived from animals fed on GM, or those that the manufacturer cannot confirm are not. The amber list contains products that the manufacturers say will soon no longer use GM-fed animal ingredients. The green list shows products that the manufacturers have confirmed do not come from animals fed on GM.

Products on the red list include Dairy Crest milk, Ben & Jerry's ice cream, Oxo cubes and Mr Kipling cakes. On the green list are Weetabix, Anchor Butter and Waitrose Wild Boar Sausages.

Nathan Argent of Greenpeace said: "Shoppers have been fooled into thinking the major retailers have turned their backs on GM, but in reality much of what they buy has been fed on GM animal feed. Thankfully some retailers are cleaning up their act, but for people who shop at the poor performers, like Tesco, the Shopper's Guide shows which products to avoid. GM animal feed has already contaminated other crops in North America. If Tony Blair lets US companies sell their seeds here, maize for animal feed is likely to be the first crop to be grown on a large scale, threatening our environment."

(NB as of March 2007 the Shopper's Guide is no longer available)

Notes: The original Shopper's Guide was launched in 2000. The new version has been completely updated and includes the league table on own brand animal products.

Retailers were asked if they could guarantee that their own brand animal products did not come from animals fed on a GM diet. See the responses here.

Danepak bacon

On Saturday October 6th local Greenpeace volunteers will be inviting shoppers at supermarkets around the country to tell Danish Crown, producers of leading Danish bacon brand Danepak to "Give GM animal feed the boot". Shoppers will be sending postcards and an envelope containing non-GM pig feed to the UK head office of Danish Crown subsidiary, Tulip International UK.

The events are part of an ongoing national campaign to get supermarkets and producers to produce all their meat and dairy products from animals fed on non-GM feed.

Danish Crown is the third largest pork producer in the world and the largest pork exporter. As well as selling bacon under the Danepak and Tulip brand in the UK it is also a major supplier of Danish bacon to the UK supermarket own labels.

Since the launch of the Greenpeace campaign for non-GM animal feed more than twenty five food companies have announced that they are committed to making their food ranges completely non-GM, by eliminating the practice of feeding GM crops to animals. They include most of the major supermarkets and fast food chains and also many food producers (1). Most supermarkets are now selling non-GM fresh poultry and free range eggs but most still have some way to go before all the meat and dairy products on sale in stores are non-GM.

Kathryn Tulip, GM animal feed campaigner said,
"Danish Crown says that it will produce some pigs (5-7,000 pigs per week) fed on a non-GM diet for the UK market (2). But we estimate these non-GM pigs will represent only 2% of Danish Crown's total pig production. This is a start but it's not enough, the majority of consumers want to buy animal products fed on non-GM feed (3)."

She added,
"This campaign is a chance for people to tell Danish Crown to stop feeding their pigs with GM feed and to give GM the boot. There is no excuse, if the poultry industry can switch to non-GM then so can pig producers."

Notes to editors:
(1) Companies who have committed to removing ingredients that come from animals fed on GM feed include: Asda, Loseley, Cow and Gate, Co-op, Findus, Heinz, HP, Patak's, Waitrose, Iceland, Jordans, Kettle Foods, McCain, Marks and Spencer, Sainsburys, Tesco, Safeway, United Biscuits, SMA, Grampian, Bernard Matthews, McDonalds, Burger King, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Pizza Hut.

(2) Danish Crown press release 16.02.01' Danish Crown launches pork based on GMO-free feed'.

(3) An NOP poll conducted for Greenpeace in September 2000 found that 67% of respondents were opposed to farm animals being fed GM soya.

Further information:
Contact:
Greenpeace press office on 020 7865 8255

None of the baby food on sale in the UK directly contains GM ingredients. However it can contain products, such as cheese, eggs or meat, from animals fed on GM feed.

Baby foods which were found to be fully non-GM include the entire Boots own-brand range and all organic ranges, such as Baby Organix, Cow and Gate Olvarit Organic, Hipp Baby Food and Kallo rusks.

Brands who are striving to eliminate GM fed animal products from their baby-food, but cannot currently state that they are fully non-GM include Cow and Gate, Heinz and SMA Nutrition (excluding their organic ranges).

Only Superdrug and Danone baby yoghurts have not yet made a commitment to Greenpeace to eliminate GM fed animal products from their baby-food.

Emma Gibson of Greenpeace explained,

"At the moment it is impossible for people who don't want to buy GM, for environmental, ethical or health reasons, to tell whether they are buying products which use GM crops in some part of the production process."

She continued, "If a product contains GM soya, tomatoes or maize it has to be labelled, but if a product comes from animals fed on GM crops it is not."

"This definitive guide aims to expose the GM which is being hidden from us and provide advice for those people who want to avoid it. Parents have a right to know what they are feeding their children and the right to say no to GM."

A recent NOP poll commissioned by Greenpeace this September found that more than two thirds of the British public didn't want farm animals to be fed GM crops. And an overwhelming 90% wanted products from animals fed on GM crops to be clearly labelled.

Almost every major supermarket has now made moves to remove ingredients from animals fed on GM crops, but most food companies have yet to follow suit.

The Greenpeace guide lists over a thousand products. Top food brands are coded red if they are positive for GM, yellow if companies or products currently use GM in animal feed but are committed to removing it, and green for products that are non-GM.

People with internet access can visit a virtual supermarket through the Greenpeace website http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/Products/GM/index2.cfm. They can then choose a virtual shopping aisle such as dairy or frozen foods to get lists of relevant products and their GM status. Free printed copies of the webguide are also available, to receive one send a 31p A4 SAE to Shoppers Guide, Greenpeace, Canonbury Villas, London N1 2PN.

Background statistics on baby food:
Source: FSA (Flackett Stevens & Associates Ltd). Their data comes from 36,000 mothers with babies up to 30 months old in England, Scotland and Wales. All data is in sterling and annual up to the end of December 2000.

1. The total baby food market is now worth £68.6million, and has grown +3.1% in the last year.
2. Brands' shares are as follows:
   • Heinz - 50.6% (-2.1% versus the previous year)
   • Hipp Organic - 13.6% (+77.1%)
   • Cow & Gate standard - 8.8% (-18.8%)
   • Baby Organix - 6.5% (+7.3%)
   • Olvarit Organic - 6.5% (+7.3%)
   • Boots own - 5.5% (-13.3%)
   • Milupa - 2.2% (-53.1%)

    

3. The value sales of the organic brands in the last year is £2.2million, that's £6.5million more than the previous year, ie. +64%. They now comprise 25% of total value sales of baby food.

    

   Further information:
   Contact:
   Greenpeace press office on: 020 7865 8255