GM feed introduced to Finnish pig farms

LSO Foods, which supplies meat to the HK Ruokatalo and
Järvi Suomen Portti meat wholesalers, announced already in July that it will
begin deliveries of imported GM soybean feed to its pork farmers later in the
year. Another company planning to introduce genetically modified feed is HK’s
competitor Atria; CEO Matti Tikkakoski says that financial pressures are forcing
it to make the move.  

No distinction
Although
Atria’s contract farmers are still using traditional feeds, Tikkakoski
says that the company will soon begin importing the genetically-modified
product. He says that non-modified feed will soon be both prohibitively
expensive, and difficult to get.
Tikkakoski does not believe that it will be
possible to deliver separate kinds of pork products to food stores – those
raised on GM feeds, and those from pigs that were fed unaltered types. He says
that when they are imported from around the world, the different types of beans
are bound to get mixed up at some point.   

Criticism
Environmental organisations have criticised the use
of genetically modified material in animal feed. The Finnish League for Nature
Protection is calling for mandatory labelling on packaging to reveal whether or
not GM feed was used in the production of meat.

Related
websites:
LSO
Foods   
Atria