AFX News

Nestle's Brabeck Committed To R&D Spending On GM Food

Nestle SA chief executive Peter Brabeck said the company remains committed to R&D spending on genetically modified food, which he said offers the "best option" to tackle global food needs into the future.

At the first UK press conference held by Nestle since its acquisition of Rowntree in 1988, Brabeck said he is nevertheless aware that the use of genetically modified products in food is controversial in the UK. He stood by Nestle's UK unit's announcement in late April that it would move towards eliminating all genetically modified ingredients from food sold in the UK. This move is in line with Nestle's policy of adapting to products to local markets, he said.

Nestle likewise "cannot ignore" continued controversy over the marketing of children's food products in developing countries, which is not an issue in some markets but is "still a concern" in the UK, he said.

On GM food, Brabeck said that at its Lausanne research centre Nestle will continue to "work together with several other companies, concentrating on the safety aspect" of GM ingredients, and also building up a library of coffee and cocoa species which may be threatened with extinction as hybrid strains are increasingly used by farmers.

He noted that in Switzerland a referendum last year rejected an attempt to have such research banned, after extensive nationwide debate.

"I don't know if GMO (genetically modified organisms) are safe, but those materials used in our products have been subject to the most stringent safety tests", he said, noting that Nestle researchers believe that genetically modified soya is now the most scrutinised foodstuff ever.

"It is a pity if we (in Europe) will leave to the U.S. once again the leading role in a new technology, and we will have to look to them in the future for guidance," he said.