Big name chefs including Tobie Puttock, of Melbourne’s Fifteeen restaurant, and Melbourne restaurant scene identity Dur-é Dara joined nutritionist Dr Rosemary Stanton and Greenpeace on Tuesday to launch a national petition titled GM Food: Our right to know.

More than150 chefs have now pledged not to use GM food in their restaurants, endorsing a "GM-free chefs’ charter".

The petition calls on Federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon for labelling and rigorous safety testing of all food derived from GM crops.

Similar campaigns involving chefs have created anecdotal backlash among urban consumers concerned about what they eat. Greenpeace wants the oils from GM products labelled, in spite of none of the GM material transferring to the refined product.

Dr Stanton said it was a wise move to be cautious on labelling.

"Processing might remove the DNA from oilseeds but children allergic to peanuts still have adverse effects from consuming peanut oil. The lack of labelling concerns me."