Chinese consumer vows to continue following Nestlé defeat
China's first consumer court case on the labelling of genetically engineered (GE) food has been rejected on technical grounds. Last year, a young mother from Shanghai, Zhu Yanling, sued food giant Nestlé for not labelling the Nesquik which she had been buying for her two-year old baby.
On 19th April, Shanghai No.2 Intermediate Court ruled that the product did not contain GE ingredients based on a test by a Ministry of Agriculture approved laboratory and that Zhu did not have a case.
I dont consider this a loss, said Zhu Yanling, a young woman working in the financial industry. The case has already made more Chinese consumers aware of our rights to know what we are eating. Ms. Zhu said she would appeal against the judgment and continue the fight
The laboratory, Shanghai Agriculture Research Institution Biotechnology Center, was commissioned to conduct the first test by the Court in August 2003. The product was found to contain ingredients derived from GE soya. But Nestlé objected to the testing result and the Court ordered a second test to reconfirm the findings in December 2003.
However, the second test proved negative. The Court decided to base its judgment on the second test as the method used was the official testing method approved by the Ministry of Agriculture.
With support from Greenpeace, Zhu Yanling and her lawyer visited Switzerland and met with representatives of the company in December 2003. Nestlé told me in the meeting that they would continue using GE ingredients in China. They don't believe Chinese consumers are as concerned about GE food as Europeans are. Such a double standard is a moral question, not a legal one, and it is up to consumers to judge whether it is right or wrong."
