Reuters Nisshin to end use of GM crops for home products
JAPAN: December 21, 1999
TOKYO - Nisshin Flour Milling Co Ltd , Japan's largest flour miller, said
yesterday it will stop using ingredients produced from genetically
modified (GM) corn and soybeans in its flour products for home use by the
end of next February.
The company plans to use wheat starch as an alternative for corn starch
and replace soybean protein with wheat protein due to consumer concerns
about the safety of bioengineered food products, a company spokesman said.
"We have decided to use wheat-based ingredients because we found it
difficult to secure a sufficient volume of ingredients made from non-GM
corn and soybeans," he said.
The company uses a total of 2,000 tonnes of corn starch, soybean protein
and soy powders annually in its flour products for home use, the spokesman
said. Nisshin is also talking to its corporate clients about the possible
elimination of GM ingredients from its business-use flour products, he
said.
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Kibun food to stop using GM ingredients in soymilk
JAPAN: December 21, 1999 Reuters
TOKYO - Kibun Food Chemifa Co Ltd , Japan's largest soybean milk maker,
said yesterday it will stop using ingredients derived from
genetically-modified (GM) corn in its soybean milk products by March next
year.
The company plans to use rice bran oil as an substitute for corn oil and
replace high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) with sugar, in an attempt to wipe
out consumer doubts about the safety of foods containing GMOs, a Kibun
official said. As for soybeans, all the crops Kibun uses to make soymilk
are imports from China that are grown from non-GM seed varieties, the
official said.
"We have decided to eliminate all the GM ingredients from soymilk
products, which have marked double-digit growth for the past several years
due to its image as a healthy drink," he said.
Kibun is using about 600 tonnes of HFCS and 300 tonnes of corn oil in its
soymilk products for the current business year to March 31, 2000, he said.
Kibun accounts for about a 50 percent share in Japan's soymilk market
worth some 17 billion yen this year, he said.