Tuesday, February 16, 1999 Published at 01:07 GMT
GM soya 'in Linda McCartney food'
Sir Paul McCartney: We are living in a GM world
Sir Paul McCartney has vowed to eliminate genetically-modified ingredients from his late wife's range of vegetarian foods.
His pledge follows claims made by BBC Two's Newsnight programme that Linda McCartney's vegetarian sausages and mince contained genetically-modified (GM) soya, despite assurances from the company that they did not.
In a statement the singer said: "We are unfortunately living in a GM world - I wish we weren't - and because of that we run constant risks of contamination, for instance from GM crops blown by the wind on to non-GM crops.
"However, given our background and what we believe in, I trust that people will realise that there is no way on earth that the McCartney family is going to try and sneak GMOs (genetically modified organisms) into our products."
Sir Paul vowed to continue his wife's animal rights and vegetarian campaigns after she died of cancer last April at the age of 56.
Concern has grown in Britain over the presence of GM ingredients in foods. Prime Minister Tony Blair has sought to calm nerves by stating that he is happy to eat the foods himself.