The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Greenpeace salutes MTR for GM-free policy

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Greenpeace salutes MTR for GM-free policy

Staff Reporter

Consumers and companies should reject GM foods, says the NGO

— Photo: V Sreenivasa Murthy

Gesture: Greenpeace volunteers dressed up as ‘traditional messengers’ in Bangalore on Friday.

Bangalore: Greenpeace volunteers dressed up as “traditional messengers”, unfurled a massive scroll that read “Well done! MTR” and handed over a Kannada copy of Safe Food Guide to the company’s representative.

Greenpeace commended the Mavalli Tiffin Rooms (MTR) here on Friday for adopting a genetically modified (GM)-free policy, thereby assuring its customers that it will not use GM ingredients in its food products.

Greenpeace, a non-governmental organisation, has for long been fighting against genetically modified crops, and MTR is the only food company to have a comprehensive policy on GM foods.

In response, MTR Foods Ltd. stated: “We have a policy to use 100 per cent natural ingredients and hence GM items are unacceptable.”

“MTR Foods has been a household name in India for 85 years now. We hope other big food brands follow its policy [on GM foods]. GM foods are unethical, unsafe and irreversible; consumers and companies should reject them,” said Shivani Shah, a campaigner with Greenpeace India.

Various studies have shown that GM foods are harmful to health, especially in the long run, and in ways that are as yet unknown. Laboratory rats fed with GM food showed increased levels of liver and kidney toxicity, increased vulnerability to food allergies and low levels of immunity, according to Greenpeace.

The production and sale of GM crops is banned in the U.S., China, Brazil and the European Union.

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