Biotch Company to Reimburse Farmers for Banned Corn

W A S H I N G T O N, Sept. 29 -- Under pressure from the government, thecompany that makes the biotech corn linked to a massive recall oftaco shells agreed today to buy all of this year’s crop of thegrain to keep it from getting into the food supply.

Federal officials say there is no known health risk from thecorn produced by Aventis CropScience, but it has not been approvedfor human consumption because scientists are unsure whether itmight cause allergic reactions.

The Agriculture Department and the Environmental ProtectionAgency issued a joint statement saying that Aventis had agreed toreimburse farmers for this fall’s harvest of the StarLink corn.Approximately 300,000 acres of the corn were planted, 0.4 percentof the total corn acreage.

“This action is a prudent and responsible step to prevent thecurrent crop of StarLink corn from being used in processed foods,”the statement said.

May Be Used as Cattle Feed

The corn will eventually be sold for cattle feed or forproduction of ethanol, a gasoline additive, USDA officials said.The department will purchase the grain from farmers and thenoversee its shipping to buyers to ensure that it doesn’t get mixedup with food-grade corn. Aventis will reimburse the government forall its expenses, and in turn will get the proceeds from the corn’ssale.

Aventis officials did not immediately return phone calls.

Kraft Foods recalled millions of packages of taco shells thatare sold in stores under the Taco Bell name after tests showed thatsome were made with the Aventis variety, and Taco Bell Corp. saidit was replacing all of the shells in its restaurants.

The Environmental Protection Agency approved the crop forcommercial use in 1998 with the condition that it only be used foranimal feed. The corn contains a bacterium gene that makes it toxicto insects.

It is one of eight varieties of genetically engineered corn thathave been approved by the government and the only one that is notapproved for use in food.