U.S. won't give temporary ok to Aventis biotech corn
Reuters Financial Report)
WASHINGTON, Oct 23 (Reuters) - The Environmental Protection Agency will
not grant temporary approval to allow a bioengineered variety of corn known
as StarLink in human food despite a growing number of food industry recalls
and production line disruptions, government sources told Reuters on Monday.
"We're not planning on granting any sort of temporary exemption or
changing our position on this," said one government official, who spoke on
condition of anonymity. "The agency is on record with our concerns about
potential allergenicity."
The food industry is expected to submit new human health data to the
EPA later this week to make its case that the StarLink variety of yellow
corn is safe for human food, said a second official.
"All of our decisions are driven by science and we are constantly
reviewing new science," the second source said. "But the idea of a
temporary change is not on the table."
StarLink, made by Aventis SA , was approved by the EPA for use
only as an animal feed because of unanswered questions about whether the
gene-altered corn's unique protein could be an allergen for some people.
U.S. regulators are now investigating how some of the corn made its way
into taco shells, which have been recalled by several grocery stores.
Several companies such as ConAgra Foods and Kellogg Co. have
been forced to suspend operations at plants to test for StarLink.
