Greenpeace Press Release

"True Food Prize" goes to Bourbon and Nisshin Food Products.
---Greenpeace Japan gives an award to those companies as non-GMO food companies and releases "True Food Guide" for consumers helping them to buy GMO free.---

International environmental organization Greenpeace honored Bourbon (Niigata prefecture)and Nisshin Food Products (Osaka pref.) with an award of "True Food Prize" for producing Non-GMO food and to contribute to the protection of health and environment. On the other hand they "honoured" Calbee and Toyo Suisan with a red prize, as companies not (yet) willing to exclude GMO ingredients in their production.

Greenpeace has carried out a questionnaire survey on the most important Japanese food producers since May 2006 asking them wheather or not they use GMO ingredients. The "True Food Prize" goes to the two companies being most contributive for the global environment amongst the companies that committed to have a non GMO policy. The awarding ceremony was held on 29th September, 1pm at Otemachi Tokyo. Bourbon's corporate director Mr. Kazuo Asano said: " Greenpeace used to be considered being so radical but now I really understand they try to solve environmental problems in a real serious spirit"

The Japanese labeling law asks GMO labeling for the 3 top ingredients by weight of the entire food product only; that means that genetically manipulated ingredients are still used in a lot of cases. Oil and soy sauce, which do not contain any protein or parts of the DNA any more due to the processing, have not to be labeled. For food producers this labeling law is a very convenient way of escape but consumers have no choice to buy non-GMO food by this labeling law.

Greenpeace Japans executive director Jun Hoshikawa who made a presentation of the award said: "The current labeling law is very lax however those two companies implement very strict their own GMO free policy and I praise their contribution for protection of the global environment."

At the ceremony Seikatsu Club Consumers Coop that distributes non-GMO products by their own brand was awarded "Special True Food Prize". And Calbee and Toyo Suisan Kaisha Ltd.having turned out to use GMO ingredients by the survey, were awarded with the "Change to the true food company Prize" that is to appeal for the need to stop using GMO.

To enable consumers to make a well informed choice, Greenpeace released the same day a "True Food guide" for consumers based on the questionnaire result. Opening the pages it's easy to find out that non-GMO products are "green" or GMO products are "red", and companies that have not answered the survey are also "red". The "True Food Guide" is given out for free.

Greenpeace Japans GMO campaigner Akiko Frid said, "I had been talking to a lot of persons in charge of food companies and I am convinced the current labeling law does not fit reality" and she continued "We are trying to change the policy of the companies that received the "Change to the true food company Prize" and other red listed companies to stop using GMO ingredients and to become also "green" companies as soon as possible."