DNA tests reveal some `organic' foods modified

DNA TESTING has revealedthat some "organic" foods, including tortilla chips and soya flour sold in British health food shops, contained genetically modified components.

More than 87,000 packets of tortilla chips have been destroyed after being recalled from British and Continental distributors. Tests using genetic markers showed that the maize used to make the chips contained the genes from a virus which is used for genetic engineering in maize plants. The American manufacturer, Terra Prima, said it had traced the source back to maize grown on a 7,000-acre farm in Texas, where many other farmers grow genetically modified forms of the crop.

Separately, the Laboratory of the Government Chemist, which runs one of the three food DNA testing centres in the UK, discovered more than a year ago that some soya flour contained genes which indicated some of the beans used had been genetically modified.

To qualify for the "organic" label, crops have to have been grown without the use of manufactured pesticides or herbicides. International organic growing associations haveagreed GM crops do not qualify as "organic" because of the bio-technology they embody.

The discovery of "DNA contamination" in organic products has caused consternation among organic food distributors. "We consider this to be unwanted, unacceptable and potentially dangerous contamination," said a spokesman for the UK Wholefoods Trade, representing organic retailers.