The controversy arose after local newspapers picked up on recent charges by the environmental group Greenpeace.

It charges that Nestle is continuing to sell products with genetically modified ingredients in Asia, even though public pressure in Europe has forced it to stop using such ingredients for products sold there.

In recent days, several dailies have run front-page stories that repeated the allegations, and quoted Chinese officials saying Nestle hadn't submitted any application to label its products as containing genetically modified organisms, as new rules issued early this year appear to require.

However, Nestle says its products in China are in strict compliance with the Chinese government regulations and Nestle's own very strict standards respecting international regulations and guidance.

Nestle continues to defend its use of genetically modified food ingredients, citing research that it says shows that genetically modified foods are as safe as conventional ones.

(People's Daily December 6, 2002)