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GEN: Tastes Great vs. Less FillingFrom: art fougner, md (evsono@pipeline.com)Tue Jan 16 09:19:20 2001
and in today's Reuters a new chapter in the genetics revolution - FDA reports beer ingredient contaminated with genetically modified corn Last Updated: 2001-01-15 10:34:16 EST (Reuters Health) WASHINGTON (Reuters) - StarLink, a variety of genetically modified corn not approved for human consumption, was found in an ingredient used by some US beer makers, federal regulators said in a letter released on Friday by Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) The discovery of StarLink contamination in taco shells by an environmental group last September triggered a recall of more than 300 US foods and forced the buy-back of millions of bushels of corn. The incident also raised fresh questions about the adequacy of US regulations for genetically altered foods, which fall under the jurisdiction of the Food and Drug Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency and the US Agriculture Department. Durbin asked all three agencies in November to describe what they were doing to halt any further contamination by StarLink. The FDA, which has said little about its investigation of StarLink contamination, revealed in a letter to Sen. Durbin that it had analyzed 129 US food samples through mid-December and found two that tested positive for StarLink. One of the positive samples was the same brand of taco shells discovered by the environmental group. The other was for "a corn meal product marketed to the brewing industry," Joseph Levitt, director of the FDA's center for food safety, said in a letter to Durbin. The letter was also signed by Jim Aidala, an EPA assistant administrator, and by Enrique Figueroa, a USDA deputy undersecretary. The ingredient never made it into the retail market and consumers were not exposed to it, according to an FDA source. The tiny corn flakes, which are used by only a few US brewers, were immediately withdrawn by the maker after the contamination was discovered, the source said. Because the ingredient never reached consumers, it was not listed among the more than 300 foods recalled by manufacturers that was published by the FDA a few weeks ago. The FDA has tested a wide variety of US corn products, including cereals, corn chips, puffed corn snacks, corn syrup, stuffing mixes, tortillas and baby foods, according to the letter. Federal regulators approved StarLink only for animal feed in 1998, citing lingering concerns about whether it might cause allergic reactions in humans. The corn is genetically engineered to resist destructive pests. Aventis, the maker of StarLink, last fall asked the EPA to grant temporary approval to StarLink for human food that has already been processed and sold. The EPA has been mulling the request, but no decision is imminent, an agency spokesman said. Last month, an independent panel of physicians, chemists and other scientists appointed by the EPA concluded that StarLink has a "medium likelihood" of causing allergic reactions (see Reuters Health report, December 6). Durbin said he plans to introduce legislation that would generally prohibit the approval of genetically modified foods for animal use but not for human consumption. "It makes no sense to have grain out there that animals can eat but not humans," he said in a statement. "Split-use foods put all farmers and consumers at risk, and once their products are contaminated, the damage can't be undone." StarLink, which was grown on less than 1% of US cornfields last year, was accidentally mixed with vast amounts of other corn by farmers, grain elevators and food processors. Hic! art
-- art fougner, md
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