By Marc KaufmanWashington Post Staff Writer
More than
430 million bushels of corn in storage nationwide contain some
of the genetically engineered variety that prompted a massive
recall of corn products last fall, the company that developed
it will report today.
The announcement
greatly increases estimates of the amount of corn that was inadvertently
mixed with the engineered variety, known as StarLink, which is
not approved for human consumption.
Most of the
commingled corn was from the 1999 crop and is in grain elevators,
according to John Wichtrich, general manager for Aventis CropScience,
which developed the corn. The affected corn -- which is more than
4 percent of that year's U.S. corn production -- will have to
be rerouted to animal feed and ethanol production.
The 430 million-bushel
estimate dwarfs the amount of corn reported earlier from the 2000
crop as containing StarLink -- about 50 million bushels grown
by farmers licensed to use it and 20 million bushels from neighboring
fields. Wichtrich said 99 percent of the 2000 StarLink corn has
been identified and redirected.
The genetically
modified protein in StarLink corn, called Cry9C, was approved
only for animal consumption because of concerns it might cause
allergic reactions in people. But StarLink corn was discovered
last fall to be widespread in the nation's corn supply, and more
than 300 corn products were recalled after testing positive for
StarLink.
The engineered
corn apparently was mixed with other corn by farmers inadvertently
delivering StarLink to buyers without notifying them, but it also
could have occurred by pollen from StarLink fields blowing onto
nearby plants.
In a speech
scheduled to be made to the North American Millers Association
in San Antonio, Wichtrich will offer to set up small labs in mills
that produce corn meal, grits and flour to ensure that the processed
corn does not contain any of the genetically engineered protein
in StarLink. He said that effort had been planned in conjunction
with the Food and Drug Administration. The Environmental Protection
Agency has concluded the protein does not survive the "wet
milling" process that makes corn syrup and oil, and Wichtrich
said on-site testing of those mills is not required.
In addition,
Wichtrich will tell processors of corn that the StarLink problem
will not go away soon.
"I know
you are wondering: Will there ever be an end to this?" Wichtrich
states in a copy of his speech obtained from the company. "Unfortunately,
as of right now, the answer is 'No' -- there will never be an
'end' as long as there is a zero tolerance for Cry9C in food."
Corn is considered
unfit for human use if one kernel out of 2,400 contains the Cry9C
protein.
|
