In a bit of embarrassing irony, catering facilities at Monsanto's High Wycombe offices have been declared a GM-free zone.

Sutcliffe Catering, Monsanto's supplier, has adopted a policy of avoiding, wherever possible, genetically modified soya and maize in the food products it serves.

Monsanto, the biotechnology company most closely associated with the GM controversy, continues to offer food made with modified ingredients at its Cambridge offices, where Sutcliffe is not involved.

Friends of the Earth, leaders in the anti-GM campaign, say that by the end of the year all major UK supermarkets will have phased out GM ingredients in their own-label products. Catering policies at the House of Commons, the Welsh and Scottish Assemblies and the European Parliament all ban GM foods.

Elliott Chase