StarLink corn banned from food by U.S. government for health reasons
Subject: StarLink corn banned from food by U.S. government for health reasons..........
Date: Sat, 28 Jul 2001 12:00:53 -0400
From: Stephen Tvedten <steve@getipm.com>
Organization: Get Set Inc. (www.getipm.com)
To: Paul Helliker <phelliker@cdpr.ca.gov>
Director, State of
California, Department of Pesticide Regulation
cc: Christine Whitman whitman.christine@epa.gov
Dear Mr. Helliker,
I thought you might like to read an article entitled: StarLink corn banned from food by U.S. government for health
reasons.
<A HREF=http://www.canada.com/cgi-bin/cp.asp?f=/news/cp/stories/20010727/agriculture-24023.html>
http://www.canada.com/cgi-bin/cp.asp?f=/news/cp/stories/20010727/agriculture-524023.html</A>
StarLink corn banned from food by U.S. government for health reasons.
WASHINGTON (AP) - The U.S. government won't allow trace amounts of genetically altered StarLink corn in food, agreeing with scientific advisers who said the biotech crop has not been proven safe for human consumption. Discovery of the corn in taco shells last fall spawned recalls of food products and embarrassed the biotechnology industry. Developer Aventis CropScience withdrew the corn from the market but asked the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to allow a small amount in food in order to avoid further recalls.
"The science we have before us now indicates that it's not possible to establish a tolerance" or maximum safe level for StarLink, Steve Johnson, an assistant EPA administrator, said Friday. By the time Aventis does the additional studies and analysis the panel of scientists recommended, virtually no StarLink will be left in the corn supply anyway, Johnson said. The scientists reported Friday they believe there is a chance the corn is an allergen but there is a low risk consumers would eat enough corn to develop an allergy to it.
The panel said it could not determine a maximum safe level
of the corn "where there would be a reasonable scientific certainty that
exposure would not be harmful to public health." The scientists urged
mandatory testing of grain and a wider search for people who may have had
allergic reactions to the biotech corn. EPA rejected those recommendations as
impractical or unnecessary. Grain processors are now testing for StarLink on a
voluntary basis.
Aventis issued a statement saying it would "fulfil
it's commitment" to ensure StarLink corn does end up in food and is instead
diverted to feed or industrial use, the only purposes for which it was approved
by EPA. The company did not say whether it would renew its request for
tolerance.
"The potential for a problem, which was always very
small, is growing smaller on a daily basis," said Val Giddings, a spokesman
for the Biotechnology Industry Organization.
StarLink is one of several varieties of biotech corn that contain a
bacterium gene that allows the plant to make its own pesticide.
Unlike the others, StarLink was never approved for human
consumption because of questions about whether a special protein it contained,
known as Cry9C, was an allergen. The protein breaks down relatively slowly in
the digestive system, an indication it could cause allergic reactions in some
people.
Aventis wanted EPA to set a maximum level for Cry9C in food
of 20 parts a billion. That's the equivalent of one StarLink kernel in 800
kernels of corn. EPA said the
levels of StarLink in the U.S. corn supply ranges from 0.34 to eight parts a
billion, depending on the method used to make the estimate.
The U.S. Agriculture Department said it has accounted for
all but 720,000 of the 128 million bushels of StarLink corn grown last year.
Another 4.9 million bushels may have been mixed with grain that went to food
processors.
In June, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention cleared StarLink as the cause of allergic reactions in 17 people who
thought they may have been sickened by the corn.
However, the scientists questioned the reliability of the
test that was used and said the government should be contacting doctors to look
for possible allergy cases related to StarLink.
The search for such cases needs to continue for two years,
the report said.
"The public would benefit from assurance of the safety
of the food supply," the scientists said.
Well Mr. Helliker, do you
think: "The public would benefit from assurance of the safety
of the food supply" or from greater use/misuse of your
"registered" POISONS?
Respectfully, Stephen L. Tvedten
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