106 brands, including Coca-Cola, are listed in Greenpeace's second shoppers' guide to companies that have committed not to use genetically modified or GM ingredients.
The shoppers' guide was released in Beijing by Greenpeace yesterday.
"In China, we use high fructose corn syrup produced from non-biotech corn, sugarcane and beet, for which biotech versions are not being commercially grown," Coca-Cola told Greenpeace China.
It is the second shoppers' guide Greenpeace has compiled for Chinese consumers.
As well as the 106 brands that have committed not to use GM ingredients, the guide also names 110 brands, including Nestlé, that have not committed to a non-GM policy. According to Greenpeace, these companies' products might well contain GM ingredients, which shoppers can bear in mind when browsing supermarket shelves.
The current situation in China is that only certain basic products made from soy, corn, green rape (a vegetable), cotton and tomatoes are required to carry a GM or non-GM label. However, other foods, which use these raw ingredients, are not required to display whether they are GM or not.
"If the price is the same, I will definitely choose the non-GM foods," said Wang Guixia, an elderly woman in Beijing.
"Before reading the guide, I never paid attention to whether or not products contained GM ingredients," said Zhang Xitai, a retiree in Beijing. "I can't remember ever seeing GM or non-GM labels on products."
(China Daily November 14, 2005)
