From the corporate responsibility point of view, ground soya is the most challenging raw material of feeds. More than 80% of global soya production is based on genetically modified plants, and the global availability of GM-free ground soya is constantly decreasing.

Production animals in the Atria chain are fed a diet that is primarily based on Finnish grain, while cattle eat grass. All animals require protein supplements. Pigs are fed feeds such as GM-free barley protein feed or ground soya. Cattle receive supplementary protein from GM-free Finnish rapeseed extract or GM-free ground European colza. Ground soya is used as a source of protein for poultry.

 Atria owns a company called A-Feed Ltd, which manufactures feed for domestic animals. A-Feed uses both GM-free ground soya and GM-soya as  a protein supplement in its poultry feeds and partly in its pig feeds.  A-Feed Ltd uses always Pro Terra certified, or certified by equivalent standards, responsibly produced ground soya in its products. 80% of Atria's contract producers of pork use A-Feed Ltd's products and almost all of the chicken producers use A-Feed Ltd's feeds.

As such, the total quantity of genetically modified ingredients in feeds that Atria's production animals eat is relatively low. Since the availability and the cost of GM-free protein supplements is uncontrollable, Finnish meat producers cannot currently be required to commit to using 100% GM-free protein supplements. We currently do not distinguish between meat-producing farms on the basis of whether their animals are fed on feeds containing genetically modified raw materials.

Plant DNA is broken down by the animal's digestive system and numerous studies have shown that no residue of modified DNA has been found in animals that were fed on genetically modified feeds.