$9 Million StarLink Settlement 

Judge Will Approve a Settlement On Use of StarLink Corn Products 

JILL CARROLL / Wall Street Journal 7mar02

Judge approves $9 million settlement in bioengineered-corn suit AP 7mar02 (below)
Letter to the editor of the San Francisco Chronicle (below)

WASHINGTON -- A federal judge said he would approve a $9 million settlement of a class-action lawsuit against several major food companies that sold products containing genetically modified corn.

Under the settlement, $6 million in coupons will be placed on foods -- from taco shells to corn dogs -- made by these companies. Any money not redeemed through the coupons will go to a yet-to-be-determined nonprofit or charitable group that protects consumer interests. An additional $3 million would go toward administering the program and lawyers' fees.

The food companies involved are: Kraft Foods Inc., Kellogg Co., Azteca Foods Inc., and Mission Foods Co. The lawsuit also includes Aventis CropScience USA Holding Inc., which developed and marketed the corn, and Garst Seed Co., which sold seed contaminated with StarLink corn. "Defendants deny liability to the Plaintiffs and members of the proposed class," said a preliminary version of the settlement that is the same as the final version according to a lawyer in the case.

Consumers filed the lawsuit, which was granted class-action status, charging that the genetically modified corn, which isn't approved for human consumption, ended up in their food and triggered allergic reactions.

The settlement doesn't affect a lawsuit farmers in some states have brought against Aventis claiming their corn lost value because of concerns over StarLink .

The final order approving the settlement is expected to be signed Thursday by Judge James Moran in the U.S. District Court in Chicago, said Bill Bogot, a lawyer for Krislov and Associates, which represented consumers in the suit.

Judge Moran said he had received the settlement but hadn't yet read it. "I told them I would approve it," Judge Moran said, recalling what he told lawyers at a recent hearing. Signing the final order, he said, "is just a matter of form."

Kellogg had no comment. Spokesmen for Aventis, Kraft and Garst didn't return calls for comment Wednesday night. Azteca and Mission officials couldn't be reached for comment Wednesday night.

StarLink corn was genetically modified to add a protein that kills a corn borer. The Environmental Protection Agency approved it for animal feed and industrial use -- but not for people. StarLink seed got mixed with regular corn and ended up in some food products; some people claimed it made them sick.

"Kraft Foods and other food companies are paying a price for allowing the biotech industry to avoid careful regulation," said Larry Bohlen, director of health and environmental programs at Friends of the Earth, a consumer advocacy group that found StarLink corn in taco shells.

A panel of experts told the EPA last year that after examining some earlier tests, they didn't know what levels of StarLink could trigger allergic reactions -- if it could do so at all. Aventis has stopped licensing StarLink seed but experts said it will take four or five years to work its way out of the food supply.

Judge approves $9 million settlement in bioengineered-corn suit

MIKE ROBINSON / AP 7mar02

CHICAGO -- A federal judge approved a $9 million settlement Thursday in a class-action lawsuit by consumers who complained of allergic reactions to genetically modified corn in supermarket products.

Under the settlement approved by U.S. District Judge James Moran, a group of food companies will attach $6 million in coupons, each good for a dollar off, to packages of their products.

Any portion of the $6 million not used by consumers through the coupons will be paid into a fund that will be used to support as-yet-undetermined charities or food research groups.

The Chicago law firm of Krislov and Associates, which handled the suit, will receive $2.4 million. Some $600,000 is earmarked for administering the coupon program.

Attorney Clinton A. Krislov said the defendants have not disclosed how much each will contribute to the settlement amount.

The StarLink corn seed was created by one of the defendants in the case, Aventis CropScience USA Holding Inc. of Research Triangle Park, N.C. It was licensed to Garst Seed Co. of Slater, Iowa, for sale to farmers.

The seed was engineered to include the protein Cry9C, which is deadly to the European corn borer, a pest that damages crops. The seed had been approved by the Environmental Protection Agency for use in animal feed but not for human consumption.

Testing that led to the lawsuit began when an environmental group found StarLink corn in taco shells. Somehow, the StarLink corn had been mixed with regular corn in a number of cases.

Aventis and Garst were defendants in the lawsuit along with Kraft Foods Co. of Glenview, Ill.; Azteca Foods Inc. of Chicago; Azteca Milling, Co. of Edinburg, Texas, and a sister company, Mission Foods Co.

Aventis CropScience issued a statement denying any liability, but saying the company believed the settlement "is the best possible way to move forward." Aventis CropScience has not licensed StarLink since 2000.

Messages seeking comment left at the corporate offices of the other defendants were not immediately returned.

IMPACT UNKNOWN
FROM ALTERING FOODS

Editor -- The article, "Starbucks protest -- coffee, tea or rbST" by Jon Entine (Insight, Feb. 24), claims that no one has been harmed by genetically modified organisms (GMOs). In 1989, 37 people died after using a genetically engineered version of the dietary supplement L-tryptophan.

Because the Food and Drug Administration does not require genetically modified foods to be labeled or tested, we have no way of monitoring their impact. Last year's StarLink corn scandal illustrated the need for more stringent regulation of these foods. Are we going to wait for bodies until we enact mandatory safety testing for GMOs?

The article incorrectly used the Odwalla juice fatality to illustrate "quality control concerns" about organic foods. The apples used in the juice were not organic.

By removing genetically modified ingredients from its food and dairy products, as Trader Joe's pledged last year, Starbucks can send a clear message to the biotech industry that its customers will not be used as guinea pigs for an untested technology whose impacts are still largely unknown.

SIMON HARRIS / National campaign director for Organic Consumers Association Berkeley CA.