April 24, 2001
		Starlink Corn Widespread in US Food Supply According to a petition filed by Aventis CropScience with the Environmental Protection Agency, the nation's food supply will likely contain a certain level of unapproved biotech corn "for the foreseeable future," but that it poses no health risks. StarLink corn was not approved for human consumption because a protein it contains, Cry9C, is thought to potentially cause allergic reactions in people. More than one quarter of the nation's seed suppliers have found evidence of StarLink contamination. Nearly 80 small seed companies have reported finding the tell-tale Cry9C in non-StarLink corn. Discovery of the corn in the Taco Bell brand taco shells last fall forced wide recalls of more than 300 varieties of processed foods and caused the disruption of exports to Japan and other major corn importers. More recalls may occur unless the government agrees to allow a certain amount of StarLink in the food supply. "So long as the government views any level of Cry9C protein, detected by any method of analysis, as rendering food legally adulterated, major disruptions of the food supply will continue even though the theoretical risk is vanishingly small,'' Aventis said in the filing. "This outcome would not contribute to the protection of public health or represent wise public policy." Despite health concerns, the petition filed by Aventis stated that "Trace levels of Cry9C protein in human food pose no safety concern but will present continuing and intractable regulatory issues in the absence of an appropriate tolerance." But an EPA advisory panel of independent scientists repeated its concern that StarLink could be dangerous for some consumers. The panel noted that while the amount of contaminated U.S. corn was small, there was a "medium likelihood'' that the biotech corn could cause allergic symptoms such as rashes, diarrhea and even anaphylactic shock. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control is also expected to complete an allergenicity study of some two dozen consumers who complained of allergic reactions from StarLink. The tests will show if blood samples from the people who reported symptoms reacted to StarLink in the laboratory. Friends of the Earth said any allowance of StarLink residue was dangerous. "It's not possible to know what level of StarLink, if any, is acceptable in food because there hasn't been enough research,'' said Larry Bohlen. Last month, an Aventis revealed that more than 430 million bushels of corn in storage nationwide were contaminated with StarLink, a level much higher than previously estimated. Aventis also faces a class action lawsuit filed by American farmers for the financial losses the incurred from the commingling and cross pollination of StarLink corn with other varieties.