PROTESTERS DEMAND EPA NOT ALLOW STARLINK ANIMAL FEED CORN IN HUMAN FOOD

28 November 2000

ARLINGTON, Va., USA, November 28, 2000 - In the face of strident protests, the US Environmental Protection Agency today met with scientists to help determine if a variety of genetically engineered (GE) animal feed corn should be approved for human food.

Activists from Greenpeace, wearing chicken, cow and sheep masks, gathered outside the meeting around a feeding trough full of corn and displayed a banner reading, "EPA: Don't Test Gene-Altered Corn on Us."

The GE corn, called StarLink, has been allowed to illegally contaminate the US food supply, leading to the recall of hundreds of popular foods.

"EPA's process is fatally flawed," said Charles Margulis, Greenpeace genetic engineering specialist. "Instead of punishing Aventis for illegally contaminating our food, the agency is on the verge of orchestrating a corporate bail-out. Industry will never again take any EPA regulation seriously if the agency lets Aventis off the hook now."

EPA originally allowed Aventis, the biotech firm that developed StarLink, to sell the GE seed on the promise that the company would insure that none of the harvested corn would be used for human food. Despite scientific concerns about the safety of StarLink, EPA is considering Aventis' request to retroactively approve the corn in food.

"EPA must hold Aventis responsible for contaminating our food, not reward them for it," added Margulis. "This corn must not be tested on our children simply for the convenience of the biotech industry."

EPA has acknowledged that a year ago it found that Aventis could not account for all the StarLink corn grown by farmers - a sign that StarLink may have contaminated the food supply. Yet the agency took no action. When environmental watchdogs discovered StarLink in supermarket foods, the agency still took no action. However, when it became clear that Aventis was facing losses that could approach $1 billion, EPA announced a rushed process by which StarLink could be retroactively approved.

StarLink corn produces an insecticidal protein called Cry9C that could cause dangerous allergic reactions in some people. The EPA's review of StarLink found that many of the allergenicity data submitted on StarLink were "either inconclusive or indicate that Cry9C exhibits some characteristics of known allergens." In October, an EPA advisory panel heard from scientists who warned that there is no known safe level of allergens in food.

Last week, Aventis admitted that a corn seed variety sold to farmers in 1998 was contaminated with Cry9C. Such contamination, which could have resulted from pollen flow from StarLink corn to other fields, casts serious doubts over Aventis' claims that it can now assess consumers' exposure to the potentially dangerous protein.

Greenpeace is committed to protecting the planet from genetic pollution by preventing the release of genetically engineered organisms into the environment.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:
CONTACT: Charles Margulis, (202) 258-3029 (mobile);
Craig Culp, Greenpeace Media, (202) 319-2461, (202) 251-
6296 (mobile).