The Ministry of Agriculture announced on Tuesday that it is
investigating Heinz's Baby Rice Cereal for possible contamination
by illegal genetically engineered (GE) rice.
Greenpeace, the international environment protection
organization, disclosed on Tuesday that non-approved GE rice had
been detected in Heinz's Baby Rice Cereal, and pushed for an
immediate recall of all contaminated products.
It also asked the Chinese government to control the spread of GE
rice along the food chain.
In 2000, Mexican scientists found that the Bt protein (Cry1Ac),
which is found in GE rice, induced allergic responses in lab
mice.
The ministry said if reports are true, it will deal with the
matter in accordance with the law.
"The supervision of GM biology is an important issue, and GE
products must be approved by the ministry before they are
sold."
According to the ministry, the government has not approved any
kind of GE rice.
The test results that Greenpeace referred to were produced by
GeneScan, an independent German laboratory, which tested 19 food
samples that Greenpeace had collected from supermarkets in
Beijing.
Heinz Baby Rice Cereal was the only product found to contain Bt
rice.
(Xinhua News Agency March 15, 2006)