Archived press release

Gm food scare hits u.s. millions of taco shells removed from shelves.

25 September 2000

Millions of taco shells have been taken off shelves in the United States, after some were found to contain GM corn not approved for human consumption. The discovery was made during lab tests carried out for Friends of the Earth US.

Significant levels of a type of GM corn called StarLink were discovered in Taco Bell taco shells during lab tests in the US last week. StarLink, manufactured by biotech giant Aventis,has Federal approval to be grown as animal feed but cannot be used in human food because it “exhibits some characteristics of known allergens”. The voluntary recall comes after an investigation launched last week by the US Food and Drug Administration which described StarLink in human food as “unlawful”.

Last week Friends of the Earth wrote to Sir John Krebs, head of the UK's Food Standard Agency, asking what tests are being carried out on GM imports to ensure that UK consumers are not eating GM food unfit for human consumption. Sir John has yet to reply.

Adrian Bebb, Real Food campaigner at Friends of the Earth, said:
“The US is experiencing one of the dangerous side-effects of GM technology that Friends of the Earth has warned about for many years. Food contaminated with GM ingredients unlicensed for human consumption is now being withdrawn from American shelves. No-one knows if this dangerous GM ingredient has found its way into other food items; it could be just the tip of the iceberg.

“This is also alarming news for British consumers because large quantities of corn are imported from the US. What steps are the Food Standards Agency taking to ensure that our food is safe from this GM contamination?”

GM animal feed is also on the political agenda in the UK. Next week the Government will be forced to hear objections to its plans to give the first commercial approval to a GM crop -a GM maize for animal feed. Hundreds of people have lodged objections, and, following the discovery of a little-known law by FOE, many of these will now have to be listened to at official hearings, scheduled to last10 weeks. One concern is that the crop, which isn't licensed for human consumption, may cross-pollinate with a crop that is.

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Published by Friends of the Earth Trust