Bioengineered corn more prevalent than thought

Anthony Shadid / Boston Globe 17may01

WASHINGTON - StarLink, a genetically engineered corn not approved for human consumption, has turned up in nearly one out of four grain samples undergoing the government's most stringent tests, a far higher number than previously reported and another sign of the chaos the corn's presence has caused.

The Department of Agriculture has tested 118,000 samples since November. Overall, about 9 percent have tested positive for StarLink. But since February, the USDA has carried out more accurate tests that can determine one kernel of StarLink in a batch of 2,400 - the standard used by some export markets and the Food and Drug Administration.

Of those 6,000 samples, 22 percent have tested positive for the corn, which the federal government barred for human use because of concerns it might cause allergic reactions, said John C. Giler, chief of the Grain Inspection Service's policies and procedures branch. ''It's definitely in the system because we're finding it.''

Traces of the corn - first discovered in a sample of Taco Bell taco shells - have led to the voluntary recall of nearly 300 products, including more than 150 brands of corn chips and taco shells. It has recently also turned up in corn dogs, corn bread, polenta, and hush puppies.

Its health danger remains a matter of fierce debate.

Dozens of people have reported getting sick from eating taco shells and other food made with the corn, and the government is awaiting an investigation of their complaints. Critics also cite a report by a panel of independent scientists in December to the Environmental Protection Agency that StarLink shows a ''medium likelihood'' of causing an allergic reaction in some people. That report, however, said the low levels of the protein likely present in US food probably would not make people sick.

Aventis CropScience, which sold the seed before it was removed from the market in the fall, dismisses any health risk posed by the corn. A company official said the amounts of StarLink are so negligible that ''the risk of allergic reaction approaches zero.''

In the end, the more tangible danger may be to the country's system for handling grain shipments. The corn's presence has already caused major disruptions in domestic and export markets and the USDA has described the task in removing it from the grain supply as ''an unprecedented challenge.''

While the corn was grown on less than 1 percent of total US corn acreage in 2000, it has become diffused through the system. Simple mixing in grain elevators, barges, and combines is one way. Another is cross-pollination with other varieties, sometimes miles away.

''It really tells you how much grain is comingled, that's the lesson from it,'' said Susan Keith, a lobbyist for the National Corn Growers Association. ''It's amazing how a very few kernels get mixed in with millions of bushels.''

The problem will likely persist for years, Keith said. ''None of us are convinced that we'll be able to abandon the testing for domestic food use and exports any time in the near future,'' she said.

Giler cautioned that the results of the tests were not necessarily representative of all the nation's corn. But the inspections were geographically dispersed - on barges, storage bins, trucks, or anywhere else that corn was stored or shipped - and the results have remained steady.

The presence of StarLink, even at one kernel in 2,400, has had disastrous consequences for exports, especially to key agricultural markets like Japan and South Korea, and the requirements of overseas customers were one reason the USDA increased the accuracy of the tests.

April, corn exports to Japan were down about 7 percent over a year ago, the department's Economic Research Service says. The drop was even more dramatic in South Korea, where exports declined nearly 30 percent.

Overall, corn exports dropped 6 percent, a shortfall blamed largely on questions over StarLink, the service and experts said.

Aventis CropScience has said it rounded up 99 percent of StarLink grown in 2000, requiring the rerouting of thousands of trucks, rail cars, and barges to divert the corn for livestock feed.

Even then, the company has acknowledged the corn will remain in the food supply and has petitioned the EPA to tolerate it at the level of one in 2,400 kernels, a move critics call a ploy to shield the company from liability.

Anthony Shadid can be reached by e-mail at ashadid@globe.com.

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