Industry Seeks OK of Biotech Corn for Humans

The U.S. food and biotech industry will submit new scientific data today to regulators in a bid to win approval of StarLink biotech corn for use in human food, government officials said. Scientists with the Environmental Protection Agency will review the data, taking several weeks to solicit comments from environmental groups, grain merchants, food makers and others. The industry will try to persuade the EPA to permit a modest level of StarLink corn in human food. Recent recalls of taco shells in which StarLink was found have unleashed chaos among grain exporters, flour millers and food processors, which are concerned that their products may also harbor some of the corn. The EPA approved StarLink, made by the French firm Aventis, for use only in animal feed because of concerns it might trigger allergic reactions in some people. StarLink has a gene inserted to help repel a pest destructive to young plants.

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