GE Free New Zealand is asking the Ministry of Agriculture to withdraw some genetically engineered foods imported from South Africa and tighten up testing.
It says independent tests on some South African products such as infant foods and gluten-free maize meal have revealed high levels of GE maize and soy.
A GE Free spokesperson, Claire Bleakley, says the test results show that New Zealand's food safety system is flawed, as there is no record of the genetically-engineered varieties in the products, which makes it difficult to check whether they have been approved by the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Authority
According to Ms Bleakley, Free State University in South Africa says there are high levels of GE organisms in the corn meal, and the specific forms of GE corn used are not disclosed.
