At the beginning of this year Greenpeace reported that the massive, pro-GE multinational, Cargill, had made an offer on Goodman Fielder's canola oil producing business. If Cargill had taken over, this would have been a major threat to the non-GE ranking of popular Goodman Fielder brands, like Meadow Lea margarine and Mighty Soft bread.

Thankfully, at the end of March, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) announced that they would not allow the sale to Cargill to proceed, because this would give the massive multinational almost total control of Australia's canola oil industry.

This means that Goodman Fielder's non-GE policy is now safe from external threats; but how did the companies' response to True Food Network members stack-up?

In their letter, Goodman Fielder recognises that "most consumers prefer foods that are not produced from genetically engineered substances", which is why as a company, their "retail branded consumer products do not contain genetically modified material."

This is a great start; but where Goodman Fielder's response gets worrying is their statement that "because of changes in the agricultural sector, it is becoming more difficult to unequivocally guarantee that all raw materials are GE free. "

This is completely untrue. Over ninety-percent of Australia's canola crop is non-GE. That means that the market is dominated by non-GE canola and it's very easy for food companies to buy non-GE canola. Food companies also have a responsibility to their customers to properly certify and audit their supply chain. That means that not only is there ample supply of non-GE canola in the Australian agriculture sector, but that it is Goodman Fielder's responsibility to their customers to check their supply chain and make sure it hasn't been contaminated by rogue GE seeds.

Greenpeace will be in negotiations with Goodman Fielder on this issue. Look-out for a full report back in the next newsletter on the companies' response, and how you can take further action to make sure Goodman Fielder listens to your preference for non-GE food.