US Foodmakers to Offer New Evidence of Biocorn Safety  

Julie Vorman / Reuters 25oct00

WASHINGTON - The U.S. food and biotech industry will submit new scientific data today to regulators in a bid to win approval for StarLink biotech corn as a safe ingredient for human food, government officials said yesterday.

Scientists with the Environmental Protection Agency will review the data, taking several weeks to also solicit comments from green groups, grain merchants, foodmakers and others about the whether enough evidence is yet available to determine if StarLink can cause allergic reactions.

"We understand the urgency of the situation as expressed by those people in the grain and food industry," a high-ranking EPA official told Reuters.

"But we cannot let the urgency overtake the need for scientific integrity. We need to make sure we have a process that provides for thorough scientific review as well as public comment," he said.

The industry data will aim to bolster its view that the EPA should permit some kind of "tolerance" or modest level of StarLink corn in human food, based on scientific studies.

A series of recent recalls of taco shells containing StarLink has unleashed chaos among many U.S. grain exporters, flour millers and food processors which are concerned that their products may also harbour some of the corn.

The food industry is scrambling to find a way to contain the problems and costs caused by the biocorn known as StarLink, which has been found in the human food supply. ConAgra Foods and Kellogg Co. are among the firms forced to halt production lines to test for the ingredient.

The EPA approved StarLink, made by the French firm Aventis SA , for use only in animal feed because of concerns that some people might be allergic to the corn's unique protein.

However, some farmers and grain elevators handling StarLink were apparently unaware of the restriction and an unknown amount of it was commingled with other varieties. That means that even though StarLink was grown on only about one percent of U.S. corn fields, the harvested corn may have been mixed with vast quantities of other corn.

"It's everywhere now. There's just no way to collect all of it," said one food industry source, speaking on condition of anonymity. "The government has to inject some reasonableness into this situation."

EPA officials have flatly rejected a bid by foodmakers for a temporary approval of StarLink in human food, saying the agency would not take any action without a scientific basis for doing so.

FDA ACTION POSSIBLE?

Foodmakers are also lobbying hard for the Food and Drug Administration to use its authority to declare StarLink an "unavoidable contaminant" in the U.S. food supply, the source said.

Such an action by the FDA would mean that the corn variety is so widespread that it cannot be reasonably controlled by foodmakers. That would take the pressure off companies to test and prevent StarLink from slipping into their products.

A spokeswoman for the Biotechnology Industry Organisation, which has taken the lead in the industry's discussions with regulators, was not immediately available for comment.

The FDA refused to comment on its month-old investigation into StarLink contamination.

"Companies doing recalls are taking the prudent action to keep these products out of the food supply," said one FDA source. Agency scientists are continuing to test a variety of other foods containing corn flour, but the FDA has declined to say whether StarLink has been found in other products.

Both agencies, plus the U.S. Agriculture Department, share responsibility for regulating various aspects of bio-engineered foods.

Environmental and consumer groups asked President Bill Clinton yesterday to hold U.S. foodmakers accountable for contaminating taco shells and any other foods with StarLink.

The Sierra Club, Environmental Defense, Consumers Union, Greenpeace USA and seven other groups wrote to Clinton asking him to not bow to pressure from the food industry for government relief.

"It would be unacceptable to approve this genetically engineered product in the human food supply simply for the convenience of the industry," the letter said. "The industry must not now be rewarded for violating the law by an after-the-fact approval of a potentially dangerous product."

At the same time foodmakers are pressing for regulatory relief, the European Commission has questioned whether existing American rules and regulations are adequate.

The EU, along with Japan, Australia and several other nations, requires labels on foods containing gene-modified corn, soybeans, tomatoes and other ingredients. U.S. officials have held several high-level meetings with EU representatives, who have expressed skepticism that U.S. rules can keep the unapproved StarLink out of food exports.

"This has got to be exacerbating trade tensions between the EU and the United States," said Rebecca Goldberg, a senior scientist with Environmental Defense. "In this case, Aventis was squarely given the responsibility to maintain the segregation of its corn and the company appears to have screwed up. Consumers should not pay for their mistake."

Industry has acknowledged that StarLink should not have slipped into the food supply. But foodmakers also maintained there is no evidence that the corn variety is unsafe.

Environmental groups contend that some consumers have come forward with cases of rashes, diarrhea and breathing problems linked to eating the corn.

StarLink has a gene inserted to help repel a destructive pest which feeds on young corn plants. 

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