Lord Haskins, chairman of Northern Foods and a close adviser to Prime Minister Tony Blair, said that his company had been forced to withdraw GM ingredients in the face of the public outcry at "Frankenstein food".

"I think it's clear that consumers don't want to buy GM food," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

"Indeed there's no reason why Northern Foods should do it, because there's no price attraction, there's no product attraction at the present time and in that sense one is forced to renounce genetically engineered produce."

Lod Haskins: Chairman of Northern Foods

His company, which is the main food supplier to the Marks and Spencer retail chain and sells products to a swathe of other supermarkets, is the latest in a long list of British shops to ditch the produce.

All of the big supermarkets, including Sainsbury, Iceland, Tesco and others, have decided to withdraw GM produce from their own-brand ranges of food.

There are signs that British farmers, too, are getting cold feet on modified crops.

Chairman of Northern Foods, Lord Haskins: "Consumers don't want to buy GM foods"

On Monday, the manager of the biggest test crop of GM produce in Britain, a 25-acre plot of GM oilseed rape in Wiltshire, southern England, said that he had killed the crop with herbicides because of protests from his trustees.

More research needed

Leading pubic figures, including Prince Charles, also remain opposed to the cultivation of GM produce, in the absence of convincing scientific proof that the crops will not damage the environment or public health.

The Prince of Wales published a lengthy article in the Daily Mail newspaper recently, questioning claims that genetically-modified crops were safe.

He bemoaned the lack of independent scientific research on GM produce and accused those who supported them of using "emotional blackmail" in pressing their case.

Mr Blair, for his part, has lamented the "hysteria" provoked by the national media.

A 25-acre plot of GM oilseed rape in Wiltshire was destroyed recently

He has appealed to people to keep an "open mind" on genetically-modified food, while stressing that he is not an advocate of it.

But he warned that banning the so-called "Frankenstein" food would risk throwing away Britain's world lead in a potentially-crucial new technology.

He said: "I'm not the advocate of anything other than keeping an open mind. This is an entirely new science, and genetic modification has many different areas, for example in medicines."

Northern Foods boss Lord Haskins also agreed that more research was needed.

He said: "We must not lose the biotechnology industry in this country. If we don't do it, other people will."