Bush asked to halt contaminated maize exports as concerns increase.4 April 2001
More than 100 consumer, agriculture and environmental groups today called on US President George Bush to suspend exports of maize and maize products until the US Government can guarantee they are free of GM Starlink maize - and safe for human consumption. In their joint letter to President Bush, the international groups also demanded the recall of all food products, commercial grain imports and food aid contaminated by Starlink.
"We don't want the US exporting genetically contaminated food around the world," said Gill Lacroix, Friends of the Earth Europe Biotechnology Coordinator. "If it's not approved for people to eat in the US, then it shouldn't be sent elsewhere."
Concern has increased with last month's announcement by Aventis - the biotechnology giant that created Starlink - that contamination is wider-spread than thought. Initially, 70 million bushels (1.8 million metric tons) of maize from the 2000 harvest were reported as contaminated, and then Aventis reported an additional 430 million bushels in storage from 1999 were also contaminated. The bacterial protein genetically engineered into Starlink to make it toxic to pests has also been found in seeds of other maize varieties prior to the 2001 planting season, prompting a $20 million-US Government program to find and destroy them. The contamination is likely due to a failure to prevent cross-pollination.
The possible health impacts of Starlink are still unresolved. The US Food and Drug Administration and Centres for Disease Control are investigating 48 reports of unexplained allergic reactions that occurred after people ate maize products. The health complaints about StarLink are the first lodged by consumers against a GM food.
The US continues to export maize contaminated with Starlink to Asia and possibly to other countries. Although StarLink was found in the US food supply on 18 September 2000, Japan has reported repeated discoveries of StarLink as recently as February, and a contaminated Kellogg Company food product was found in the US in March.
People in developing countries are also expressing concerns that Starlink may be shipped as food aid in a desperate attempt to get rid of it. Over two million tons of GMOs are sent directly by US foreign assistance to developing countries, while the World Food Program distributes another one-and-a-half million tons of GM crops donated by the US Government .
StarLink is not approved for human consumption in the US because the bacterial protein genetically engineered into the maize by Aventis has "characteristics of known allergens" according to the US Environmental Protection Agency. The discovery of StarLink in food products has driven many US food companies to recall raw grain and more than 300 products made with US yellow maize - both in the US and in countries that import from the US. But contaminated products are still appearing.
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