But much of the food industry, including U.S. growers who export large quantities of genetically modified soybean and corn to Europe, argue segregation will prove too costly. Ben Tahar said segregation was fairly straightforward for seed producers like Limagrain. But it would be more complicated further down the food chain, such as in processing plants. Either they will have to double their facilities or, if it's economically feasible, they could clean their machinery and trucks between processing. The European consumers' association BEUC said it welcomed Limagrain's decision to segregate.
Higher prices are wholly unjustified.
Dober said food manufacturers would not need to set up parallel processing chains to keep gene-changed and traditional foodstuffs apart. Cleaning machinery between batches was sufficient and was a procedure they were already obliged to follow under current food hygiene regulations. She pointed to British retailer Iceland, the first major retailer to segregate its source material, which said in April sticking to non-GM foodstuffs made good commercial sense.