Our Food Company Survey Responses
Our initial request was for the companies to complete a survey regarding their attitudes to GM-free status and decisions around deliberately labelling their products as GM-Free or NON-GMO etc.
Whilst many companies still haven’t responded (its nearly Christmas, after all), the following insights were provided by three well known food companies: Baiada (Lilydale Free-Range Chickens), Carman’s Kitchen and Sanitarium.
From Baiada
“At Lilydale, we have a policy to feed our free-range chickens a nutritious, vitamin enriched diet that includes seeds, grains, legumes and canola. In addition to the diet, the birds are free to forage for fresh grass during daylight hours. Currently we are unable to source all non-GM ingredients for Lilydale feed due to a range of factors including the source and seasonal nature of some crops used in components of the feed. In reference to certification, all Lilydale farms are certified by Free Range Egg & Poultry Australia Ltd (FREPA), who conducts audits on all farms annually.”
From Carman’s Kitchen
“Thank you for contacting us here at Carman’s and for your inquiry! In the Carman’s range, we use the most wholesome ingredients and therefore our recipes do not contain any GM ingredients. We have also done a review and determined ‘GM Free’ is not a priority for our consumers, hence we have removed the claim on pack. We hope this information is helpful and you are able to continue enjoying our delicious products! Have a lovely day!”
From Sanitarium
“Our company has a non-GMO policy and ensures that none of our ingredients, or any of our products, require the labelling of genetically modified materials’ – never say never, and I can’t predict the future, but as we are guaranteed GMO free by policy and have taken this as a leading and public stance we don’t need to label that we have GMO ingredients (‘cause we don’t), or that we are GMO free (‘cause we are and don’t include GMO ingredients in the packaging listing).”