-Caveat Lector- Taco shell recall raises concern over bioengineering By DAVID SCOTT, Associated Press ST. LOUIS (September 24, 2000 2:47 p.m. EDT http://www.nandotimes.com) - Just down the block from biotech ground zero - the headquarters of Monsanto Co., which helps produce genetically engineered foods - the Beddo family shopped for groceries. Israel Beddo had heard about Kraft recalling taco shells because of a particular type of bioengineered corn, but didn't think much about it. His wife, Krista, on the other hand, was well aware of the issue as she held their 1-year-old daughter. "I think they ought to leave nature alone," she said. "There is a reason food grows like it does." Kraft Foods recalled Taco Bell-brand shells after tests showed they were made with a variety of genetically engineered corn that isn't approved for human consumption because of questions about whether it could cause allergic reactions. Hours after Friday's recall, people shopping for dinner in St. Louis expressed support for biotechnology - but growing apprehension. "It's probably (used) a lot more than we know, particularly in the produce," said Diane Joiner, 41, a second-grade teacher from St. Louis. She was shopping with her two children at a Schnuck's Supermarket in Richmond Heights, Mo., where the recalled shells were still on the shelf Friday night. Joiner said the recall scared her, not so much because of the genetically modified corn but because it reminded her how little she knows about the food she buys. "It's never advertised blatantly," Joiner said. "You might hear a blurb on the news one day, and never hear anything else another day. I would like to know. ... But I don't think they tell you everything." Most Americans aren't even aware of biotech foods in the supermarket, according to a study commissioned by the International Food Information Council, which is funded in part by biotechnology companies. Of those surveyed in May, only 43 percent said biotech products are in stores. In reality, about 50 percent of the nation's corn acreage was planted with genetically modified seed this year, said Scarlett Foster, a spokeswoman for St. Louis-based Monsanto. Fifty-nine percent of soybeans and 61 percent of cotton were grown from genetically modified seed. The vast majority of those biotech crops are grown from Monsanto seed, she said. The International Food Information Council found that over the last three years support in for biotech products in the United States has dropped. In 1997, 79 percent of those surveyed felt biotechnology would benefit themselves or their families. That slipped to 75 percent in February 1999, to 63 percent in October 1999, and was down to 59 percent this May. The corn involved in the taco shell recall is produced by Aventis Corp. It contains a bacterium gene that makes the corn toxic to an insect pest, and is one of the least-used varieties of biotech corn. It's also the only genetically engineered crop of any kind not approved for food use. Foster said Monsanto has a long-standing policy against producing any biotech products that are not designed for human consumption, as well as a policy forbidding the insertion of a human or animal gene into a plant. That's not enough for Ed Fink, 35, an information services manager at a telecommunications company who did his shopping Friday in Ladue, Mo., at Wild Oats Market, an organic food store that doesn't knowingly sell any genetically modified product. Shopping at the same store, Washington University student Nicole Lovenduski said biotech food "doesn't really bother me." She is returning to school in St. Louis after spending a semester in London, where public opinion is decidedly anti-biotechnology. "It was on the news, it was like the main event, when someone found some crops that had been genetically engineered," she said. Justine McBride, also a student at Washington, believes biotechnology can be dangerous - but at the same time she can see its advantages. For example, European researchers have developed rice with extra beta carotene that's advertised as a way to save millions of children in developing nations from blindness or diseases like diarrhea and childhood measles. "I'm confused about that," McBride said. "It's hard to argue with, but in principle I'm against the bioengineering of anything." ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Steve Wingate }}}> ANOMALOUS RADIO <{{{ - Techno, Ambient, Talk (33k+) http://www.live365.com/cgi-bin/directory.cgi?autostart=anomalous }}}> RADIO ANOMALY <{{{ - Techno, Ambient, Jazz (Cable, DSL) http://www.live365.com/cgi-bin/directory.cgi?autostart=stevew168 Anomalous Images and UFO Files http://www.anomalous-images.com <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html">Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/">ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
