BEIJING, March 14 (Xinhuanet) -- China's Ministry of Agriculture announced on Tuesday that it is investigating whether Heinz's Baby Rice Cereal is contaminated by illegal genetically-engineered (GE)rice.

    Greenpeace, an international environment protection organization, disclosed today that non-approved genetically-engineered (GE) rice has been detected in Heinz's BabyRice Cereal and called for an immediate recall of all contaminated products.

    It also asked the government to control the spread of GE rice in the food chain.

    In 2000, Mexican scientists found that the Bt protein (Cry1Ac),which comes from GE rice, induces allergic responses in mice.

    The ministry said if reports turn out to be true, it will deal with the issue according to the law.

    "China has attached great importance to the supervision of the safety of GE biology and any such products sold should be approved by the ministry," the ministry said.

    According to the ministry, the government has not approved any kinds of GE rice.

    The test outcome that Greenpeace provided were made by GeneScan, a Germany-based independent laboratory, which tested 19 food samples that Greenpeace had collected from supermarkets in Beijing.

    Heinz Baby Rice Cereal, with a best before date of March 12, 2007, is the only product in which GE ingredients, namely Bt rice, were detected.

    The ministry said probes into GE products in China should be made by authorized organizations. Enditem