March 22, 2001
		StarLink Contamination Level Much Deeper Than Previously Thought John Wichtrich, general manager for Aventis CropScience, producer of the notorious genetically engineered corn StarLink, revealed Sunday that more than 430 million bushels of corn in storage in the U.S. have been contaminated the unapproved biotech variety. The discovery of StarLink in November, which is unapproved for human consumption because of a concern that it might cause an allergic response in some people, has been an embarrassment to the biotech industry, producers of processed foods, and the federal agencies that are supposed to protect our food supply. Because of the manner in which grain is stored, much of the biotech variety has been inadvertently mixed in with conventional corn in large grain elevators. Aventis also said that it was urging the federal government to establish a tolerance level that would allow a small percentage of StarLink to occur in large shipments.