US restaurants try to end genetically modified food

Dow Jones 9mar00

Chefs in some of America's finest restaurants are ridding their larders of biotech ingredients, quizzing suppliers about biotech content and banding together to publicly oppose the proliferation of genetically modified food products.

At celebrated Chez Panisse in Berkeley, Calif., owner Alice Waters has told food suppliers: "Flat out, no genetic engineering." She has given her staff a year-end deadline to go 100% "GM-free," setting her pastry chefs scrambling to overhaul a favorite chocolate cake.

At Seattle's hip Dahlia Lounge, chef Matt Costello said his restaurant has eliminated most genetically modified ingredients and is moving toward a total ban. In Philadelphia, the White Dog Cafe is also trying to impose a ban, after a difficult hunt for GM-free ketchup and cooking oil.

The chefs are adding heat to the crusade against biotech food, which has set off a firestorm among European consumers but isn't on a lot of Americans' radar screens.

In Philadelphia, in an event organized by the owners of the White Dog Cafe, nearly 30 chefs will hold a press conference next month to denounce genetically modified food and demand labeling of products containing genetically engineered ingredients.

But becoming free of genetically modified food is a tall order for a restaurant, which can have hundreds of ingredients bought from dozens of suppliers. The changeover requires scrutinizing product labels, interrogating suppliers, sundering longstanding relationships with those who don't toe the unmodified line -- and even tinkering with cherished recipes.

For example, with new ingredients, Chez Panisse has had to fine-tune the proportions and timing of some of its most popular offerings. The recipe for Lindsey's Cake, named after Chez Panisse's original pastry chef, Lindsey Shere, had to be completely recalibrated after genetically modified chocolate was replaced by an unmodified variety.

To avoid genetically modified ingredients, some chefs switch to organic suppliers. In itself, that isn't an absolute guarantee of unmodified ingredients, purists say; but the move is even endorsed by Greenpeace, says Charles Margulis, the environmental group's Washington, D.C., representative.

Organic products, however, are typically double or even triple the price of their genetically modified counterparts. Stan Frankenthaler, chef-owner of Salamander Cafe & Catering in Cambridge, Mass., has found farmers who can guarantee that their poultry and livestock aren't raised on genetically engineered feed. He has also changed the source of canned tomatoes. But he says he had to abandon his quest for an affordable source of unmodified cooking oil because the cost is "astronomical."

Kevin von Klause, executive chef and part owner of the White Dog Cafe in Philadelphia, can relate to that as he tries to wipe out any trace of GM food from his kitchen. "It is so hard," he sighs. The cafe, which considers itself "very progressive" and features speakers on social issues, consumes enormous quantities of ketchup -- burgers and fries are favorite items on the bar menu. While a case of ordinary ketchup would cost Mr. von Klause $14 dollars, he pays $27 for a case of an organic variety.

Then there was the soybean-oil problem. The restaurant decided to stop using soybean-based products because so much soy is genetically engineered. What to use instead? "We can't go to peanut oil, because people are allergic to peanuts," Mr. von Klause says. "We couldn't go to corn oil, unless it is organic -- but then we can't afford it, and besides, it is not good for french fries and chicken wings."

The result? The White Dog switched to canola oil, though that, too, might be genetically engineered. "Either you pay so much, you can't afford to use it, or you think you are getting GMO-free and it has GMO," he laments.

Legendary Julia Child thinks the move against genetically altered food is "a very backward-looking point of view." Ms. Child, 87 years old, calls genetic modification of food "one of the greatest discoveries" of the last century.