A Taste of Wellness for Savoury and Snacks
Givaudan
Monsanto has informed Food Standards Australia New Zealand that it would remove its application for the 'food derived from herbicide-tolerant wheat MON71800'.
"As a result of our portfolio review and dialogue with wheat industry leaders, we recognise the business opportunities with Roundup Ready spring wheat are less attractive relative to Monsanto's other commercial priorities," Carl Casale, executive vice president of Monsanto said in May.
Environmentalists and anti-GM campaigners, eager to see all genetically modified foodstuffs cleared from the food chain, celebrated the Monsanto move. Canadian and US farmers, who feared they would lose access to the European wheat market, also welcomed the withdrawal. The European bakery industry uses about $300 million of North American wheat a year.
In May the biotech firm declined to say how much it had spent on developing the GM wheat, but the development costs in 2003 were $5 million.
Hugh Grant took over as chief executive of Monsanto last year. Observers note that in a bid to turn the much battered image of Monsanto around, Grant has shifted the company's strategy to focus on developing GM products with clear consumer benefits - such as vegetable oils with low trans fatty acid levels.