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ENVIRONMENTAL ORGANISATIONS PROTEST AGAINST UNILEVER
Thousands of posters about Unilever's margarine to be distributed in the Netherlands.
ROTTERDAM, Netherlands 24 March 1997
Greenpeace and the Foundation for Nature and Environment this morning began a protest at the Unilever headquarters in Rotterdam against the use of genetically engineered soya in food.
Activists hung a giant banner on the front of the Unilever headquarters in Rotterdam whilst others demonstrated outside. The banner's design was a parody, based on the box designs one of Unilever's brands of margarines in the Netherlands.
The environmental groups are calling on Unilever to stop using genetically modified organisms (GMO's) in their products because of the risk to both human health and the environment -- with no advantage to the consumer.
The protest sees the start of a poster campaign around the Netherlands this week which is designed to inform consumers of the fact that genetically modified soya might already be in our food. The poster designs are based on Unilever's three margarine brands: Bona, Blue Brand and Latta. Thousands of posters will be put up around the Netherlands, pointing out that Unilever's margarine could give consumers a "new chance at environmental damage" and to "team up with biotechnology". Consumers are asked to call a Greenpeace hotline to get a list of products which contain guaranteed genetic engineering (GE)-free products like other companies around Europe.
Greenpeace and the Foundation for Nature and Environment want Unilever, the biggest food producer in the Netherlands, to join with its sister companies, Unilever Germany and Austria, who have already decided to go GE-free after consumer pressure. Despite calls from the organisations here, Unilever Netherlands has until now refused to do the same, hence today's protest.
On 20 February the Dutch Parliament passed a resolution calling on the Dutch Government to ensure a segregated, GMO-free food supply. The two parliamentarians who put forward the resolution have joined the protest today. The Dutch Parliament agrees with Greenpeace that the consumer has the right to choose a GMO-free supply. This is necessary as a first step towards a genetic engineering free future. In November 1996 the European Parliament also passed a resolution calling for segregation for a GE-free food suppply.
Soy products are in 60% of all our food, including bread, biscuits and chocolate. Last year two percent of the US soy harvest contained genetically engineered soy, and the next crop will be 10%.
For information please contact:
James Gillies Greenpeace International tel: +31 20 524 9548.