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The current controversy over unapproved genetically modified corn winding
up in the food supply continues to grow. The contamination was brought
to light after Friends of the Earth
had some taco shells tested and the unapproved for human consumption StarLink
Corn was discovered. The following is a brief summary of some events surrounding
this ongoing issue.
Gene-Modified
Corn Turns Up in U.S. Exports to Japan
The Consumers Union of Japan has said that it has
found traces of a controversial genetically modified corn, which is not
approved for import into Japan, from the United States in snack foods
and animal feed sold here.
This is likely to kick off a firestorm of protest
here, where opposition to genetically modified foods is especially strong.
Officials from the U.S. Department of Agriculture
and two groups representing American grain producers are expected in Tokyo
tomorrow to try to explain how the genetically modified corn, called StarLink,
surfaced in Japan, according to one grain importer.
John Richardson, the deputy chief of mission at
the European Union's mission in Washington, said after discussions with
American officials that some of the gene-spliced corn may find its way
to grocery shelves in Europe, where opposition to genetically altered
foods is also very high.
"Though StarLink corn was
only approved for use as animal feed or for industrial processes, some
StarLink corn appears to have entered the food supply and might
find its way into products overseas," a U.S. government spokesman
said today in Tokyo.
The spread of the
genetically altered corn is difficult to contain because seed corn is
cross-pollinated and it is extremely difficult to isolate modified corn
from unmodified corn. Sifting through millions of tons of corn
to separate natural kernels from those that have been genetically modified
is an even bigger challenge.
Japan imports about 12 million tons of corn for
animal feed and 4 million tons for human consumption.
New York Times October
25, 2000
Biotech Corn
Traces Dilute Bumper Crop
According to a report from the Washington Post,
"Anxiety is sweeping across farm communities throughout the Midwest
because of fears that large amounts of this year's corn crop may have
been contaminated with a genetically engineered grain that was approved
only for animals. " This contamination may make it difficult, if
not impossible, to sell.
"I think we're just hitting
the tip of the iceberg here. We just don't know what's in those
elevators, and when we start letting this stuff go and it's tested, it's
going to get worse," said Gary Strube, manager of the Superior Cooperative
Elevator Co. in Dickinson County.
"But the fox is out of the chicken coop already,"
Jerry Herrick, a cooperative elevator manager in Osage, Iowa said. "A
farmer could have cross-pollinated his corn and not ever known it, and
we could have gotten some of that corn."
Aventis, the manufacturer of the GM corn, has acknowledged
that mistakes were made in not ensuring that StarLink corn would go only
where it was intended to go. They also have said that the decision to
accept the Environmental Protection Agency's animal-only approval was
a mistake.
Growers were supposed to pledge that StarLink corn
would be sold only for approved uses. But he said somewhere along the
line there was a breakdown in communication between Aventis, the seed
companies and farmers.
Washington
Post, Wednesday, October 25, 2000
New Choice for
F.D.A. on Engineered Corn
Aventis, the developer of StarLink corn, is preparing to ask the government
for temporary authorization for the corn to be used in food, according
to food industry and government officials.
The idea is backed by wide segments of the food
industry, which see it as an expedient way
to avoid disruptions that are now occurring in the distribution and processing
of corn.
Farmers, grain elevators, flour mills and food manufacturers
have been scrambling to make sure the unapproved corn is not present in
their products.
Aventis CropScience, a subsidiary of Aventis S.A.,
will present new data to the Environmental Protection Agency in an effort
to show that StarLink is present in such low amounts that people would
not develop allergic reactions to it.
The approval for human use would be long enough
to cover use of corn from this year's harvest, although that might require
a couple of years or more because food made from this year's harvest might
be on the supermarket shelves that long.
New York Times October 25,
2000
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