MEDIA RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 1, 2002

Loblaws under attack at AGM for opposing customers' right to know

Toronto - Greenpeace and the Council of Canadians today let Canada's largest grocer know it will continue to be held accountable for preventing its customers from knowing what's in their food.

At the Loblaws annual general meeting, shareholders heard how the company is ignoring its customers and playing a lead role in Canada's failure to label genetically engineered (GE) food.

"Loblaws says it can't label food because there's no federal standard for labelling GE food," said Nadège Adam, biotech campaigner for the Council of Canadians. "What they don't tell their shareholders is that Loblaws helped kill a strong law that would have given us that federal labelling standard.

"Loblaws needs to drop all pretense that they support their customers' right to know what is in their food because no one is buying it," she said.

Adam cited the grocery lobby's efforts in killing a private member's bill last year that would have implemented European-style labels. MPs from all parties, including 34 Liberals, supported the bill, whose defeat allowed the biotech and grocery industries time to write a weaker standard that is nearly complete.

"All we want is two words added to food packages: Genetically engineered. That's not radical - it's called letting people know what they're eating. If Loblaws thinks GE is safe, then it shouldn't want to hide it," said Holly Penfound, Greenpeace GE campaigner. "Loblaws isn't a victim of Liberals not doing their job - it's the reason the Liberals aren't doing their job.

"Hearing Loblaws complain there's no law is like hearing Brutus complain there's no Caesar," she said.

The Council of Canadians and Greenpeace have been mobilizing against Loblaws across Canada. The groups say they will increase the pressure until Loblaws stops fighting mandatory labels on GE food, and Canadians get the right to know what they eat.

Loblaws also operates as Zehrs, No Frills, Provigo (Quebec) and Real Canadian Superstore (Western Canada) and Atlantic Superstore (Atlantic Canada).

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