Pesticide and Environmental Update
USDA Gives
Approval to new Pesticide-Promoting GE Corn
World's First GE Biofuels Corn
Threatens Contamination of Food-Grade Corn. Impacts on Human Health,
Environment, and Farmers Not Assessed
Center Urges Rethink of "Food for
Fuel" Policy
Washington, D.C. (January 15, 2009) - The Center for
Food Safety today urged the incoming U.S. Dept. of Agriculture (USDA) to
refrain from approving the world's first genetically engineered (GE) crop
designed specifically for fuel, not food. The Center maintains that this GE
"biofuels corn" will contaminate food-grade corn, and has not been
properly assessed for potential adverse effects on human health, the
environment, or farmers' livelihoods. The Center also believes it is
irresponsible to engineer corn for fuel use at a time when massive diversion
of corn to ethanol has played a significant role in raising food prices and
thus exacerbating world hunger.
The USDA is accepting public comments on its cursory
impacts assessment of the corn until January 20th. The Obama
Administration's USDA could then approve the corn or postpone any final
decision until a proper, comprehensive assessment is prepared. In the latter
case, the corn could continue to be grown under USDA regulatory oversight,
as at present.
The GE corn at issue - known as Event 3272 - is
genetically engineered to contain high levels of a heat-resistant and
acid-tolerant enzyme derived from exotic, marine microorganisms. This enzyme
has not been adequately assessed for its potential to cause allergies, a key
concern with new biotech crops, and could also have negative impacts on soil
carbon cycling. The corn-embedded enzyme breaks down starches into sugars,
the first step in conversion of corn to ethanol. At present, ethanol plants
add a different and familiar version of this enzyme to accomplish the same
purpose. The corn was developed by Syngenta, the Swiss-based agrichemical
and biotechnology firm.
"The Bush Administration's USDA rushed this GE
corn to the brink of approval without giving any serious consideration to
its potential impacts on human health, the environment, or the
economy," said Bill Freese, science policy analyst at the Center for
Food Safety. "Syngenta's biofuels corn will inevitably contaminate
food-grade corn, and likely trigger substantial rejection in our corn export
markets, hurting farmers. We urge the Obama Administration to give this
first-ever GE industrial crop a careful and thorough assessment before
making a final decision."
Only four countries - accounting for less than 6% of
US corn exports - have approved Syngenta's biofuels corn for import. Major
markets like Japan, Mexico, South Korea, and China, as well as Russia, the
EU and Switzerland, have not approved the corn, even though submissions were
filed for import clearance in these countries nearly three years ago. South
Africa denied import clearance on health grounds in 2006.
"The resemblance to StarLink is uncanny,"
continued Freese. "Much like StarLink, Syngenta's biofuels corn poses
allergy concerns, is not meant for human food use, and is not approved in
export markets. It's hard to believe that USDA has forgotten the substantial
harm StarLink caused to farmers and the US food industry, but apparently it
has."
StarLink was a GE corn variety approved only for
animal feed and industrial use because of concerns it could cause allergies
if used in human foods. Despite measures to keep StarLink separate from
food-grade corn, it contaminated the human food supply in 2000-2001.
Hundreds reported allergic reactions they believe were linked to StarLink.
Food companies recalled over 300 corn-based products, export markets sent
back StarLink-contaminated corn shipments, and farmers suffered substantial
economic losses as a result. Seventeen state Attorneys General sued
StarLink's developer, Aventis CropScience, to partially recover damages.
Leading food experts have blamed excessive conversion
of corn to ethanol for exacerbating the world food crisis by driving up
prices of corn and other staples. The World Bank has reported an 83% rise in
food prices from 2005 to 2008, and estimates that 100 million additional
people have been pushed into hunger and poverty as a result. USDA data show
that 23% of US corn (3 billion bushels) was converted to ethanol in 2007,
jumping to over 30% (3.7 billion bushels) in 2008, with further increases
expected as more ethanol refineries are constructed.
"In addition to all the other problems with this
biofuels corn, it is perverse to engineer a staple crop to feed automobiles
rather than people in the midst of a food crisis," added Freese.
The Center for Food Safety is national, non-profit,
membership organization founded in 1997 to protect human health and the
environment by curbing the use of harmful food production technologies and
by promoting organic and other forms of sustainable agriculture. On the web
at: http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org
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