From: Steve Wingate 
Subject: SNET: Farmers warned against biotech corn
Date: 15 Feb 2001 17:10:25 -0500
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Farmers warned against biotech corn  

By PHILIP BRASHER, Associated Press  

WASHINGTON (February 13, 2001 6:28 p.m. EST 
http://www.nandotimes.com) - Stray kernels of the biotech corn that caused 
nationwide recalls of taco shells still pose a problem for farmers this year, 
even though the seed is no longer for sale.  

The National Corn Growers Association warned its members Tuesday that 
stray kernels from last year's crop of StarLink corn could sprout in fields 
and cross-pollinate with other varieties of corn if farmers aren't careful.  

StarLink corn was never approved for human consumption because of 
unresolved questions about its potential for causing allergic reactions. 
Many farmers didn't know about the restriction, or else ignored it, and the 
biotech grain wound up contaminating at least 80 million bushels of last 
year's corn harvest.  

Kraft Foods was among several companies that recalled taco shells and 
other products after StarLink was detected in them.  

There is a danger that stray StarLink plants will contaminate corn fields this 
year, "further compounding the problems of keeping StarLink out of the 
supply of U.S. corn," said Fred Yoder, chairman of the growers 
association's biotech working group.  

Farmers are advised to grow something other than corn, such as 
soybeans, on last year's StarLink acreage, or else plant herbicide-tolerant 
varieties of corn. Those varieties can be sprayed with a weedkiller that will 
kill the StarLink plants.  

But even that option has its own potential problem, because corn that's 
immune to the popular weedkiller, Roundup, isn't approved for sale in 
Europe.  

Farmers also are being warned not to plant any corn seed that hasn't been 
tested for the presence of StarLink.  

StarLink is one of several types of corn that have been genetically 
engineered to kill an insect pest, but it is the only one not allowed in food.  

The American Corn Growers Association, a smaller group that is critical of 
biotechnology, has said that farmers should be compensated by StarLink's 
maker, Aventis CropScience, for any contaminated crops grown this year.  

Meanwhile Tuesday, an anti-biotech group released a report prepared by 
the Food and Drug Administration on attitudes of consumers toward 
genetically engineered products. Virtually everyone questioned in a series 
of focus groups the agency sponsored last year believed that foods ought 
to be labeled if they contain any genetically engineered ingredients.  

"Consumers want to have information on how their food is prepared for a 
variety of reasons," said Richard Caplan of the U.S. Public Interest 
Research Group.  

FDA has refused to impose mandatory labeling on biotech foods. The 
agency says there is no justification for labeling food with biotech 
ingredients that are essentially the same as conventional ones. The food 
industry fears such labeling could unfairly stigmatize biotech products.  


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