Second Recall Spurs Biotech Corn Seed Drop
W A S H I N G T O N, Oct. 13, 2000 -- A type of genetically engineered corn that isnot approved for food use was withdrawn from the market at thegovernment’s urging Thursday after the crop showed up in additionalbrands of taco shells.
The Environmental Protection Agency said Aventis CropScienceagreed to cancel its license to sell the corn, known as StarLink.It is only allowed for use in animal feed because of unresolvedquestions about whether it can cause allergies in humans.
The health risks from the corn, “if any, are extremely low,”the EPA said in a statement. But because “Aventis was responsiblefor ensuring that StarLink corn only be used in animal feed, andthat responsibility clearly was not met, today’s action wasnecessary,” the agency said.
Safeway Inc. removed taco shells from its stores Wednesday nightafter learning of test results that showed they may contain thebiotech corn. Kraft Foods issued a nationwide recall Sept. 22 oftaco shells it sells under the Taco Bell brand name after similartests confirmed the presence of the corn.
Aventis already had suspended sales of the seed for next year’scrop and agreed to reimburse the government for purchasing all ofthis year’s harvest.
Rarely Used Variety
The corn contains a bacterium gene that makes it toxic to someinsects. All such pest-resistant crops must be licensed by the EPAbefore farmers are allowed to grow them. StarLink is one of theleast used varieties of biotech corn and the only one not allowedin food.
The corn flour used in the Kraft and Safeway taco shells camefrom the same company, Azteca Milling of Irving, Texas, a jointpartnership of Archer Daniels Midland Co. of Decatur, Ill., andGruma S.A. of Monterrey, Mexico.
Azteca is investigating the incidents and has implementedtesting procedures to prevent the biotech corn from reaching itsmills, said company spokeswoman Sarah Wright.
Safeway’s action applied to shells sold under both its privatelabel and under the name of Mission Foods, a Gruma subsidiary alsobased in Irving. Customers who purchased the shells are beingoffered refunds. Safeway said it had been assured by Mission Foods,which made the taco shells, that the corn was not in its products.
Mission Foods, which also supplies taco shells to othersupermarket chains, said in a statement that it is testing itsproducts for the StarLink corn. Kraft’s taco shells were made inMexico by Sabritas Mexicali, a unit of PepsiCo Inc.
FDA Investigates Fully
Safeway, based in Pleasanton, Calif., has 1,400 stores in theUnited States, primarily in the West.
The Food and Drug Administration has been testing a variety ofcorn products for StarLink, but agency spokeswoman Ruth Welchdeclined to say whether the agency had found the corn in any foodsother than the Kraft taco shells.
“We’re doing a full investigation working with all partiesinvolved in this issue,” she said.
The StarLink corn was grown on about 300,000 acres this yearnationwide, or about 0.4 percent of the total U.S. corn acreage.The Agriculture Department is buying up all of this year’s crop andthen selling it for feed and other non-food uses. USDA estimatesthe action will cost Aventis as much as $100 million.
The StarLink corn has become an embarrassment to the biotechindustry, and food manufacturers have been meeting almost dailywith government officials to deal with the issue. “We want to makesure that everything is done on the part of the government toreassure consumers that the food supply is safe,” said GeneGrabowski, a spokesman for the Grocery Manufacturers of America.
The Safeway taco shells were purchased at a Washington-areastore Sept. 28 and tested Wednesday by a firm in Iowa at therequest of the coalition known as the Genetically Engineered FoodAlert.
“This is the second contamination incident in the past coupleof weeks,” said Mark Helm, a spokesman for the environmental groupFriends of the Earth. “It seems pretty clear that the FDA is doinga miserable job ensuring the safety of the American food supply.”