Judge approves $9 million settlement in "Frankenfood" Case

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Subject:  Judge approves $9 million settlement in "Frankenfood" Case
 Date:     Sat, 9 Mar 2002 08:22:54 -0500
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: Judge approves $9 million settlement in bioengineered-corn suit By Mike Robinson, Associated Press Friday, March 08, 2002

CHICAGO — A federal judge approved a $9 million settlement Thursday in a class-action lawsuit by consumers who complained of allergic reactions to genetically modified corn in supermarket products.

Under the settlement approved by U.S. District Judge James Moran, a group of food companies will attach $6 million in coupons, each good for a dollar off, to packages of their products. Any portion of the $6 million not used by consumers through the coupons will be paid into a fund that will be used to support as-yet-undetermined charities or food research groups.

The Chicago law firm of Krislov and Associates, which handled the suit, will receive $2.4 million. Some $600,000 is earmarked for administering the coupon program. Attorney Clinton A. Krislov said the defendants have not disclosed how much each will contribute to the settlement amount.

The StarLink corn seed was created by one of the defendants in the case, Aventis CropScience USA Holding Inc. of Research Triangle Park , N.C. It was licensed to Garst Seed Co. of Slater, Iowa , for sale to farmers. The seed was engineered to include the protein Cry9C, which is deadly to the European corn borer, a pest that damages crops. The seed had been approved by the Environmental Protection Agency for use in animal feed but not for human consumption.

Testing that led to the lawsuit began when an environmental group found StarLink corn in taco shells. Somehow, the StarLink corn had been mixed with regular corn in a number of cases.

Aventis and Garst were defendants in the lawsuit along with Kraft Foods Co. of Glenview, Ill. ; Azteca Foods Inc. of Chicago; Azteca Milling, Co. of Edinburg , Texas ; and a sister company, Mission Foods Co.

Aventis CropScience issued a statement denying any liability but saying the company believed the settlement "is the best possible way to move forward." Aventis CropScience has not licensed StarLink since 2000.

Messages seeking comment left at the corporate offices of the other defendants were not immediately returned.

Copyright 2002 — Associated Press Any reprinting, rebroadcast or digital transmission of this work without written permission from Environmental News Network, Inc. is strictly prohibited.

Well Mr. Helliker,  George Bernard Shaw once noted:  "We learn from experience that we never learn from experience."  Man is always trying to "improve" on that which G=d created and said was good.  Your "registered" POISONS and "frankenfoods" eventually all show us the insanity of "playing G-d"!

Respectfully,  Stephen L. Tvedten

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