BEIJING, June 14 (Xinhua) -- Greenpeace on Thursday accused a Japanese confectioner and a German retail giant of "double standards" in supplying Chinese consumers with food containing genetically-modified ingredients.

    GM ingredients were detected in four snacks made by Japan's Ezaki Glico Co. and one by Germany's Metro Group, according to tests on 21 products sampled in supermarkets in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.

    The tests were conducted by a Hong Kong-based testing company in April and May.

    "Both companies had stopped using GM ingredients in the products sold in their own countries. Chinese customers deserve the same treatment and we hope they can eliminate the double standard," said Luo Yuannan, executive of the food and agriculture programme of Greenpeace China.

    "We tried our best to inform the companies about the findings, but we have received no responses so far," said Luo. "We will keep trying to contact them."

    The U.S.-based Kraft Foods Inc. was found supplying Chinese customers with GM substances in unlabelled food products in 2005, long after it had withdrawn the GM foods from the European market, said Luo.

    "Kraft promised it would not use GM ingredients in products sold in China from Jan. 1 this year. We hope the other foreign companies that are still producing the GM food can follow suit," Luo said.

    "China has no laws to restrict GM ingredients in biscuits, cookies and other snacks so the two companies have done nothing illegal," said Luo. "We are just asking they employ the same standards in all markets."

    A poll conducted by Greenpeace in March showed 65 percent of Chinese would prefer non-GM food given the choice and 85 percent opposed adding GM ingredients to baby food. About 21 percent said they would choose non-GM food no matter how much it cost.