clipped from: www.ft.com   

Gene modified crop spurs investor revolt


A group of socially con­cer­ned US investors has launched a public campaign calling on food companies not to use a controversial new genetically engineered sugar beet crop that is to be planted for the first time this spring.


The Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR) is calling on consumers to write to 63 companies, including Heinz, Campbell’s Soup, General Mills and Kraft, asking them to say they will not use a new sugar beet strain developed by Monsanto.


Its members have filed shareholder resolutions calling on the McDonald’s and Wendy’s restaurants chains and Safeway supermarkets to label products that contain genetically engineered ingredients.


leading food companies, including McDonald’s, Camp­bell’s Soup, General Mills and Anheuser Busch, had already chosen not to use a variety of genetically engineered ingredients. “This is a front-burner brand, reputation and consumer confidence issue [for the companies],