The seeds arrived in Genoa from the United States this month. The remaining seeds were sent to a depot of the U.S. company in Lodi, in northern Italy. Much of the seed was then distributed to Monsanto's 2,000 retailers across the country. Further tests on the first batch of seeds found some genetically modified material, Dottorini said. He said any level of genetically modified seed is banned by Italy.
Genetic engineering involves splicing a single gene from one organism to another.
In the United States, genetically modified varieties of soybeans and corn gained popularity in the 1990s and are now commonly found in U.S. supermarkets, but they are still unpopular among Europeans.