P&G Recalls Cans of Pringles in Japan
That Contain Bio-Engineered Potato

Wall Street Journal 18jul01

CINCINNATI -- Procter & Gamble Co. is recalling hundreds of thousands of cans of Pringles snack chips in Japan because they contain genetically modified potatoes not yet approved by regulators there for human consumption.

The consumer-products company said the recall -- the first for P&G due to a crop-biotechnology mix-up -- involves 8% of the Pringles cans on Japanese store shelves.

P&G said it initiated the recall after routine testing within the past week discovered the presence of ingredients made from two types of bug-resistant potatoes, called NewLeaf Y and NewLeaf Plus, which were created by St. Louis biotechnology company Monsanto Co. P&G said it still is investigating the cause of the contamination.

Japan had cleared the consumption of Monsanto's original bio-engineered potato, which was designed to repel a bug called the Colorado potato beetle. But Japan has yet to approve upgraded versions of the potato, which have the added ability to resist certain plant diseases.

The genetically modified potatoes, which are grown only in the United States and Canada, are approved for consumption by U.S. and Canadian regulators.

Monsanto, a seed and herbicide business that is 85%-owned by Pharmacia Corp., Peapack, N.J., already has decided to shelve its NewLeaf line. Introduced in 1995, the NewLeaf line never captured more than 5% of the North American potato-seed market. A big reason is that major french-fry manufacturers, leery of the controversy over the safety of crop biotechnology, banned their growers from raising genetically modified potatoes.