Tegel vows no GM feed for its chooks

By ANNE BESTON

One of the most popular meals on New Zealand dinner tables is going GM-free.

Poultry giant Tegel says it will stop feeding its chickens genetically modified soya feed.

Managing director Peter Lucas said yesterday that independent research done for Tegel had found that 75 per cent of consumers wanted chickens that had not been fed GM soymeal.

"I was surprised by the findings. It was stronger than I expected."

The company has come under fire over the past year from anti-GM groups, including Greenpeace, for feeding its chickens GM soya.

In a Herald survey of GM foods in December it admitted the feed was modified.

It also said the coating on its chicken nuggets might or might not contain imported GM cornflour but said it would eliminate all GM ingredients from its products by the time labelling regulations came into effect in December.

The Australia NZ Food Authority, a partnership between Australia's federal, state and territory Governments and NZ, has agreed that food containing 1 per cent or more of GM ingredients must be labelled by then.

Mr Lucas said the new feed would be given to chickens from October and the aim was to have fresh chickens which had not been fed GM soymeal for sale by Christmas.

It would take a bit longer for the frozen stock to become GM-feed free.

Tegel produces 44 million fresh and frozen chickens a year.

Mr Lucas said the coating on Tegel's chicken nuggets was already GM-free.

The company's chickens had never been genetically modified.

www.nzherald.co.nz/ge

Report of the Royal Commission on Genetic Modification

GE lessons from Britain

GE links

GE glossary