By Marc Kaufman
A genetically engineered variety of corn that caused massive recalls of taco shells last year has spread further through the food supply than had been thought and is present in a much wider range of processed foods.
The corn, known as StarLink, was found in new categories of corn products such as
in tests conducted by the company that developed the corn. StarLink was never approved for human consumption because of concerns it might cause dangerous allergic reactions.
The discovery of more corn products with even trace levels of StarLink raises questions about whether food recalls may be necessary again and whether foreign countries opposed to genetically engineered crops may boycott U.S. food products on a increased scale.
The Japanese government, for instance, made the importing of corn products with any traces of StarLink into a potentially criminal act early this month.
Aventis referred to these possibilities yesterday when it reported the results of its testing to the Environmental Protection Agency. The company had previously asked the agency for a retroactive exemption to allow the presence of StarLink in food, but yesterday amended its request to allow for as much as 20 parts per billion of the modified corn.
The company said it tested 12 representative products made with yellow corn, which together make up about 90 percent of the products made with the corn. Six of those tested were found to have detectable levels of a protein found in StarLink known as Cry9C, the company said.
Aventis also said that traces of the modified corn are likely to be found in many yellow corn products for the foreseeable future. Officials said that a "commonsense solution" was needed to deal with that reality.
But environmental and food safety groups have argued against granting Aventis any exemption, especially before conclusions are reached about whether it can cause food allergies. They have also opposed any kind of retroactive approval, saying that it would help Aventis but not the American public.
In December, a scientific advisory panel to the EPA concluded there was a "medium likelihood" that StarLink protein is a potential allergen. But it reported that because of the low levels of StarLink in the American diet, there was a "low probability" of allergic reactions.
Despite the low risk, the genetically modified corn has become a regulatory and now trade nightmare because it was never supposed to be in the food chain at all. The corn was engineered to produce a protein that repels a major corn pest, the European corn borer, and was approved for animal feed only. But precautions developed to keep it out of the human food chain failed.
Washington Post April 24, 2001; Page A03
It is interesting that officials are calling for a "commonsense solution" when the only commonsense thing to do is to not allow ANY genetically tampered-with foods to be produced.
This would of course include StarLink corn, but also the many other products which already are approved for human consumption and can be found in more than 60% of the foods on supermarket shelves today.
Genetically modified foods did not exist prior to 1995. Ninety percent of the money Americans spend on food is spent on processed foods and seventy percent of processed foods have genetically modified foods in them.
There are NO STUDIES with humans on what happens when one consumes genetically modified foods. The FDA has ASSUMED that they are equivalent to the original and never required any studies to have them approved.
This is despite the fact that this technology has never existed in the history of the world before.
Absolutely Brilliant!
Especially in light of the US Federal track record on genetically engineered safety which is terrible.
Last year Starlink corn was only approved for animal consumption NOT human consumption. This was because of a concern that could cause allergies in humans. Well Starlink corn would up directly in the human food supply, despite FDA precautions.
There are EIGHT different agencies in the US regulating biotechnology under TWELVE different set of laws. NONE of the laws had biotechnology in mind when they were passed, as they are 40-50 years old.
Folks this is one of the biggest disasters I have ever seen that is waiting to happen.
You say why aren't people getting sick? Well, the damage may be insidious, similar to smoking and it might require many decades of ingestion to observe an effect.
Already, investigators have found that rats fed genetically modified potatoes had an increased thickening in the lining of their stomach and intestine and a weakening of their immune system.
For more info on GM foods, try the following websites:
True Food Shopping List (compiled by Greenpeace) Organic Consumers Association Earth Island Institute Friends of the Earth Genetically Engineered Food Alert The Campaign to Label Genetically Engineered Foods
True Food Shopping List (compiled by Greenpeace)
Organic Consumers Association
Earth Island Institute
Friends of the Earth
Genetically Engineered Food Alert
The Campaign to Label Genetically Engineered Foods
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