"Greenpeace calls on Nestle to immediately withdraw its patents on genetically modified coffee and other genetically modified products," the campaign group said in a statement on the eve of Nestle's annual general meeting.

"The risks that such patents pose to economy, ecology and health are unacceptable," it added.

Greenpeace pointed to a Nestle patent granted by the European Patent Office in February for a genetic modification to an arabica coffee plant, which would, among other changes, make coffee more soluble.

"In many parts of the world, the multinational group announced it was refraining from genetically modified food," the enviromental group said. "However, the acquisition of such patents shows that Nestle still pursues genetic engineering for economic reasons and strives to gain total control of food production," it added.

A spokesman for Nestle, Francois-Xavier Perroud dismissed the accusations by Greenpeace, saying they were "incomplete and outdated".

Nestle does incorporate GM crops in its products where they are approved by local authorities, but they are not distributed in regions like Europe where consumers reject them, he told AFP.

No Nestle coffee products anywhere contain genetically-modified organisms (GMO), Perroud insisted.

"If we have patents, it's as a preventive measure, to avoid other companies from obtaining this technology," he said.

"Genetic engineering technology is the path for the future, we do not want to be caught out," Perroud added.

The Swiss-based multinational says on its website: "Provided their safety is proven, as required for all ingredients, Nestle will continue to use ingredients derived from genetically modified crops wherever appropriate."

Greenpeace said the characteristics of GM coffee trees would spread to other plantations of organic or conventional coffee growers, "rendering their harvests virtually unsaleable."

It said smaller coffee growers would become dependent on the patented seedlings which would "most probably, be more expensive than traditional ones".

Nestle launched a "fairtrade" brand of instant coffee in Britain last year, saying it wanted to "help alleviate hardship and poverty among small coffee farmers" by ensuring fair prices were paid for their produce and that farm practices were sustainable.

The coffee plant patent application was filed by Nestle in August 2002 and has been published in the patent office's Internet database since July 2004, according to European Patent Office documents.

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