The ban on genetically modified foods on menus in Oxfordshire schools was today expected to be recommended across the country.

The ruling was due to come from the Local Government Association's public protection committee, which was meeting at its London headquarters.

The ban would apply to every food outlet run by councils in England and Wales, including old people's homes, children's homes, canteens and schools.

The recommendation would not be binding on councils, but is a response to local authorities' requests for guidance on GM foods.

Oxfordshire Education Authority already operates a self-imposed ban on the genetically modified foods being served in schools.

A clause in the council's School Meals Contract, which is signed by private companies providing school meals, says contractors will take 'all reasonably practicable steps to ensure that genetically modified food is not used in the production of school meals'. Oxfordshire County Council wrote to Oxfordshire MPs and the Government in March last year expressing its concern. It urged the Government to take action, either to end the sale of GM foods or make sure they could be easily identified through clear labelling.

A spokesman for Oxfordshire County Council's education department said: "We are a little ahead of the game having written to the Government last March to express our concerns."

The recommendation would be to ban genetically modified food from menus for five years, unless it was scientifically proven to be safe.

Story date: Wednesday 24 February

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.