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Distrust over genetically modified (GM) foods in Japan deepened
on June 21 after the third recall in less
than a month of snack products containing unapproved
gene-spliced potato.
Japan's Bourbon Corp. said it had voluntarily
recalled some of its snack products after traces of unapproved
NewLeaf Plus™ potato were detected.
The new rules set zero tolerance
for imports containing unapproved gene-altered products and require
mandatory labeling for approved GM products.
Bourbon said it was recalling its "Potelka" snack produced
before June 1, after tests for both NewLeaf Plus™ and NewLeaf
Y potatoes turned out positive.
Sales of the Potelka products totaled 1.1 billion yen (US$8.9 million)
in the 2000/01 fiscal year, against the company's total sales of
86.47 billion yen, a company spokesman said. The recall was expected
to cost the company about 80 million yen.
Potelka was made from potato ingredients
imported from the United States with certificates that showed they
were non-GM products, he said.
The NewLeaf varieties, developed by leading US agricultural biotech
firm Monsanto Co. to protect potatoes from insects and potato viruses,
have not been approved in Japan.
The discovery of StarLink™ in food products last October by
Friends of the Earth had prompted
Japan, where StarLink™ is not approved even for animal feed,
to distrust US corn and cut its buying.
Japan, which imports 4 million tons of corn for food use each year
and another 12 million tons for animal feed, is the biggest buyer
of US corn.
In South Korea, the Korea Corn Processing Industry Association,
which imports 2 million tons of corn a year for food use, has already
shunned US corn at its import tenders.
Korea imports another 6 million tons a year for animal feed.
Concern about StarLink™ grew after the South Korean government
detected traces of it early this year in some corn imports that
carried official US non-StarLink™ certificates.
StarLink™, made by Franco-German biotech firm Aventis SA to
fight a destructive pest known as the European corn borer, has not
been approved by US regulators for human consumption because of
fears over potential allergic reactions.
Reuters June 22, 2001
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