Nevertheless, Greenpeace has been very successful in frightening consumers, especially in Europe, about the safety of biotech crops. Faced with the prospect of a full-frontal assault, Novartis chose to capitulate, reporting that it had eliminated genetically engineered ingredients from all of its food products, including Gerber baby food. The products of Novartis' Gerber baby food subsidiary are meant for consumption by infants. The chief benefits of biotech corn and soy accrue to farmers who lower their weed and pest control costs. Since consumers can't tell the difference between biotech and conventional crops, they don't see a personal benefit.
Activists promote organic crops, but conventional ones are also alternatives to biotech crops.
In the mid-1990s, the Environmental Working Group claimed that Gerber's baby food was laced with pesticides. In fact, Gerber met or exceeded FDA safety standards, but pledged to work harder to keep pesticides out of their food. And now Novartis has announced that it won't buy crops produced using the very seeds it is selling to farmers. Gerber baby food had to be GMO-free. Mothers depend on us not to introduce anything new or fancy into their babies' food.