The cooperative says that its latest commitment will ensure that only grains sourced from within Germany and the EU, which are guaranteed to be free from GM products, will be used to feed cattle supplying its Landliebe brand of milk.
Within the EU, GM use continues to be met with opposition from both legislators and campaigners over claims that long-term health impacts of consumption are not known. The EU also requires processors to label products with more than 0.9 per cent GM ingredients, a major barrier for industry.
Landliebe commitment
Campina says that the new Landliebe commitment, which comes into place from 1 October, will see the brand relabelled with a logo guaranteeing the products are GM free. The company claim says the claims are already true for all of its brands, though difficult to guarantee.
Group spokesperson Ria van der Peet told DairyReporter.com that the brand had previously used feed grains sourced from outside of Germany, though the group were now only using goods from within the EU.
According to Ria van der Peet, Landliebe is the first German dairy brand to do make such a commitment, which reflects Campina’s work with the World Wildlife Fund's (WWF) Green Soya scheme.
She said that the company was moving by 2011 to ensure sustainable sourcing of natural feed for its dairy herds by focusing on composition of livestock nutrition along with outdoor grazing.
"It’s a tough target, but we think we can make it,” stated van der Peet.
Project cost
In terms of the price for moving towards the new feeding programs, Campina claim that its suppliers will be receiving an additional €0.01 for every litre of milk produced, though these charges would not be felt at consumer level.