August 4, 2000 	
	
Novartis Removes Ingredients
With Genetic Modifications
By a WALL STREET JOURNAL Staff Reporter

BASEL, Switzerland -- Novartis AG, which eliminated genetically modified
ingredients from its Gerber baby-food brand last year, confirmed it has cut
them from all its food products.

The pharmaceuticals company also makes Ovaltine drink mix, health foods and
medical-nutrition brands Resource and Isosource, which are used in
hospitals and nursing-care facilities.

A Novartis spokesman said the company has prohibited ingredient suppliers
from using genetically modified crops such as corn and soybeans since June
30. Novartis disclosed the move in a letter to Greenpeace, the European
environmental group opposed to crop biotechnology.

Novartis, whose agricultural unit was a pioneer in crop biotechnology,
stunned the food industry last year when it decided to eliminate
genetically modified ingredients from Gerber, the biggest U.S. baby-food
brand whose annual world sales are about $1 billion.

Though Novartis defends crop biotechnology's safety, it decided to remove
genetically modified ingredients from products amid a European public
backlash in 1999.

The company said it doesn't have plans to advertise that it has removed
genetically modified ingredients from food products, for the broad
dispersal of pollen from transgenic plants in several parts of the world
makes it impossible to guarantee that any product containing corn and
soybeans is free of modified organisms.

After Gerber's move, most of America's big baby-food makers also banned
genetically modified ingredients. Also, some U.S. fast-food chains have
asked their french-fry suppliers to stop using genetically modified
potatoes. Frito-Lay Co., the Plano, Texas, snack chip unit of soft-drink
giant PepsiCo Inc., has asked its farmers to stop growing genetically
modified corn and potatoes.