Memories of Consumer Choiceâ„¢
June 20th, 2001By Naomi Klein In the aisles of Loblaws, between bottles of President's Choice Memories of Kobe Sauce and Memories of Singapore noodles, there is a new in-store special: blacked out labels on organic foods. These boxes used to say "Free of Genetically Modified Organisms" but then Canada's largest grocery chain sent down an edict that such labels were no longer permitted. At first glance, Loblaws' decision doesn't seem to make market sense. When the first frankenfoods protests came to Europe, chains like Tesco and Safeway scrambled to satisfy consumer demand by labeling their own lines "GMO-Free." And when Loblaws entered the health food market with its line of President's Choice Organics, it seemed to be going the same route. In advertisements, the company proudly pointed out that certified organic products "must be free of genetically modified organisms." Then, the about-face, made public last week: not only won't Loblaws make the GM-free claim on its own packages, it won't allow anyone else to make the claim either. Company executives claim there is just no way of knowing what is genuinely GM free apparently, it's too confusing. Loblaws' argument points to a much broader strategy that North American food...