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GREENPEACE BLOCKADES FOOD PROCESSING MULTINATIONALS ACROSS EUROPE AND DEMANDS THEY PLACE ORDERS NOW FOR GENETICALLY UNALTERED GRAINS
AMSTERDAM, JANUARY 28TH 1997
In a series of direct actions across Europe today Greenpeace targeted multinational food manufacturers as part of its campaign to stop the introduction of genetically altered food products into supermarkets.
Hundreds of Greenpeace activists today blockaded the entrances and unfurled banners using climbers on the national offices of Unilever, Danone and Nestle in Belgium, Italy, Germany, Austria, Finlan France, Spain, the Czech Republic and Switzerland. The banners read: "Sell us the real things: no GE food".
In Brussels at the national headquarters of food processing multinational Unilever, Greenpeace activists built a wall of five tonnes of natural soya beans in 200 bags at the entrance to the building and unfurled a banner on the "soya wall" which read:"No genetic experiment with our food."
Greenpeace spokesperson Michelle Sheather said the direct actions would continue until the major food processing companies guaranteed that they would not use the gene soya in their food products and refused to accept the mixing of the gene soya from natural beans by their suppliers.
"These companies have the power to guarantee the public real, unaltered food by demanding the natural crops are separated from the genetically altered ones," said Ms Sheather
"Opinion polls have shown the people of Europe do not want to eat genetically altered food products and Unilever, Danone and Nestle must ensure their products do not contain it."
"We will be mounting a concerted campaign to inform the public which key brands not to buy if these companies attempt to force genetically altered food on their customers."
The Greenpeace direct action follows the European Parliament's failure to introduce adequate labelling regulations for genetically altered food products despite widespread consumer opposition to their introduction into supermarkets.
European Commission's approval of genetically altered soya beans and corn. Soya beans are used in 60 per cent of processed food products sold in supermarkets including bread, chocolate, pasta and ice-cream. The US agro-chemical company Monsanto is promoting a soya bean which have been genetically engineered to be resistant to the company's weed killer, Roundup. The gene soya beans were importe into Europe for the first time this year from the United States.
The European Commission also recently approved the importation of Ciba Geigy's genetically altered corn despite concerns from members states such as the United Kingdom about the dangers of transferring antibiotic resistance to farm animals fed with the corn that has been inserted with a gene which produces a natural insecticide and another which makes the plant resistant to a type of antibiotics.
GMO ACTION UPDATE
2pm Amsterdam
Actions continuing in France (banner drop with climbers on Danone headquarters in Paris, police moving in to remove protestors have blocked off the street), Italy (activists occupied the roof of the Nestle building and blocked the entrance, police have given them until 4 pm to leave), Belgium ( the 200 bag, 5 tonne soya wall is still in place in front of the Unilever building in Brussels). In Germany billboards have been erected outside the Nestle building in Frankfurt and activists are still in front of the building handing out GE free products
Actions have finished in Spain ( banner drop and protest at Nestle in Barcelona), Swtizerland (a protest dinner in front of the Nestle headquarters in Weve, near Geneva), Finland (a banner drop with protestor out the front of the Unilever building in Helsinki), Czech republic (Banner and protest in front of Nestle headquarters in Prague). A fax campaign against Nestle is continuing in Austria.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:Michelle Sheather - Greenpeace International +31 (20) 523 6279
OR
Isabelle Meister - Greenpeace International + 31 20 52 36 213.