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Martin Wong

McDonald's, KFC and Maxim's all serve their customers food containing genetically modified (GM) ingredients, Greenpeace said yesterday.

The group's lab tests found that four of 11 samples from the three fast-food chains contained RoundupReady-Soya. It said the GM component was found in a McDonald's hamburger bun, in the bread used in a Maxim's ham and egg sandwich, in KFC's mashed potato, and in the bun for KFC's Zinger Burger.

'The test results have clearly shown that the genetically engineered ingredients have now spread to fast-food chains,' said campaigner for Greenpeace (China) Lo Sze-ping.

RoundupReady-Soya is a herbicide-resistant soyabean developed by the US chemicals company Monsanto.

'It is designed to be resistant to a weed-killer called Roundup, which is also manufactured by Monsanto,' said Mr Lo.

The Garden Company, which supplies hamburger buns to both McDonald's and KFC, said it would try to find out why their buns contained RoundupReady-Soya.

'The main components of the breads are flour, sugar and water. We honestly do not know what RoundupReady-Soya is and why it was found inside,' said Regina Leung, the company's marketing manager.

KFC, which serves 50,000 customers a day, said it planned to conduct its own GM food testing, but said it had no immediate plan to stop selling the product involved.

'We will ask our suppliers to send us non-genetically modified food in the future,' said Emily Wong, marketing manager of KFC. She said Garden would remain a KFC supplier.

McDonald's said: 'The company follows Hong Kong Government guidelines for food safety and [we] have a close relationship with the suppliers to ensure the safety and quality of all ingredients used in their products.'

Maxim's did not respond to requests for comment.

Greenpeace said it collected 18,000 signatures in May calling for a labelling system for genetically modified food.

More than 8,000 people supported a campaign to urge food manufacturers and retailers to go GM-free. 'There is enough evidence to show that the public do not want genetically engineered foods,' Mr Lo said. 'And, if there are [any], they demand them to be labelled.'

The Government is conducting a study on a GM-food labelling system, and it hopes to reach a final decision at the end of this year, a spokesman of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department said.

Terence Lau Lok-ting, general manager of Hong Kong DNA Chips laboratory which tested the fast-food products, said many other food items tested in his labs were found to have GM components. The most common were soyabean and corn.

Although some experts say GM foods may trigger new allergic reactions or affect antibiotics treatment, Mr Lo said there was no scientific conclusion on whether they were safe or harmful to health. 'The scientists are still debating,' he said. Little research had been done to analyse the environmental effects of GM crops despite the widespread concern, he said.



Greenpeace targets McDonald's, KFC and Maxim's