By K.T. Arasu
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Tyson Foods Inc., the world's largest poultry
producer, said on Friday it
has stopped feeding its chickens with a gene-altered corn approved for
use only as animal feed but
turned up in taco shells and flour.
The Springdale, Ark.-based Tyson is believed to be the first food
company to stop the use of
StarLink corn as an animal feed, as concerns emerged that the corn has
spread through the U.S.
food chain.
``Tyson has elected to stop acquiring corn that we know is StarLink
corn,'' Tyson spokesman Ed
Nicholson told Reuters.
He said the company did not plan to carry out independent testing but
will leave to its suppliers to
ensure corn it purchases is free of StarLink.
``This is basically a precautionary move to avoid confusion among
consumers, although to my
understanding, there has been no links of the protein in StarLink
transferring to products.''
The protein, known as Cry9C and not found in other crops that are
genetically modified, is safe
for animals but may trigger allergic reactions in humans, including
fever, rashes or diarrhea,
according to government scientists.
European pharmaceutical giant Aventis SA, which engineered StarLink
corn, has said 90 percent
of the corn has been accounted for and was ``tracking'' the remainder.
But sources close to the company and in the industry said that some 9
million bushels of StarLink
corn is unaccounted for.
Nicholson said Tyson had stopped buying StarLink corn about a month
ago, when news of the
corn entering the food chain and turning up in taco shells was first
made public.
The episode began late last month when the largest food manufacturer in
the United States, Kraft
Foods, a unit of Philip Morris Cos. Inc., recalled Taco Bell brand taco
shells because they
contained StarLink corn.
On Tuesday, ConAgra Foods Inc., the country's second-largest food
manufacturer, said it had
suspended milling operations at its corn processing plant in Kansas
while it tests for StarLink
corn.
Azteca Milling, a distributor to Mission Foods and other food makers,
said it stopped shipping
and milling yellow corn on Sept. 19. Azteca and Mission also
voluntarily recalled some yellow
corn products because they could contain StarLink. The two companies
are units of Texas food
producer Gruma Corp., a subsidiary of Mexican food group Gruma.
Aventis has since agreed to cancel its license to sell the StarLink
corn after government officials
said the firm was responsible for ensuring farmers properly segregate
the corn.
The company has been buying back StarLink corn, paying farmers who
planted the variety 25
cents more than the market rate to channel the grain solely as animal
feed.
Nicholson said Tyson might have bought StarLink corn before the Kraft
recall of taco shells, but
added that ``it will be difficult to say because it was not identified
then.''
``It will be virtually impossible to say that none of it (StarLink)
will end up in our feed because
our mills are not testing at this point,'' he added.
He said Tyson buys about 6.3 million bushels of corn each week.
