Europe retailers, ever aware of changes in consumer demand, are reluctant to stock more genetically modified foods and need strong arguments to persuade them to take the risk, industry representatives said on Friday.

Even if the EU lifts its unofficial five-year ban on most biotech crops, which may happen before December, widespread consumer opposition to GM produce still deters many supermarkets from ramping up their small ranges of genespliced foods.

"If you take retailers and food manufactures, none of them have an incentive to die for GM," said Jim Murray, director of European consumers' association BEUC. "They'll say What's in it for us?'- it's a problem of incentives in the marketplace."

European consumer scepticism over GM food, ranging from mild distrust to outright rejection, has been to estimated at more than 70 percent-and higher in countries such as Italy and Austria.

"It's often easier for the manufacturers just to reformulate a product to make sure it doesn't have GM in it," he said. "As for consumers, if they don't want it, they won't buy it."

Despite the overwhelming antipathy, the EU's executive Commission is pushing hard to end the bloc's moratorium on GMOs, which dates from 1998. Since then, there have been no approvals of new GMOs to be imported or grown in the 15-nation bloc.