Subject: Two interesting articles Date: Wed, 05 Sep 2001 04:10:01 PDT From: "The Campaign" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] News Update From The Campaign to Label Genetically Engineered Foods ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Dear Health Freedom Fighters, Posted below are two articles that are quite interesting. The first article is from Tuesday's edition of The New York Times titled "Altered Corn Surfaced Earlier." This article reveals that both the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the biotech company Aventis CropScience had early indications that StarLink corn had entered the human food supply. But both the EPA and Aventis denied knowing of any problems previous to last September when Friends of the Earth discovered StarLink corn in taco shells and other corn products. This startling news exposing that both Aventis and the EPA had earlier knowledge of contamination of the human corn supply from StarLink corn was recently obtained by the Washington, DC-based legal group, Center for Food Safety. The EPA was required to supply this information to the Center for Food Safety since their request was made under guidelines of the "Freedom of Information Act." The EPA apparently received information about possible contamination of the human food supply with StarLink corn from Aventis in a report that was dated Jan. 27, 2000. The Aventis report to EPA discussed a survey the company had conducted in December 1999. The survey discovered that some farmers may have allowed their StarLink corn to be mixed with regular corn designated for human consumption or to be exported to Europe where it was not allowed. The closing paragraph in The New York Times article discusses Keith Finger, a Florida optometrist who has documented his allergic reaction to StarLink corn. The Campaign to Label Genetically Engineered Foods is attempting to get a video clip of Keith Finger having a reaction to StarLink corn that his doctor videotaped. Hopefully we will be able to post this video clip on The Campaign's web site sometime in September. We will let you know when and if this happens. The second article posted below from Reuters is titled "Asia's sensitivity over GMO worries US soy trade." This article confirms our recent prediction that premium prices will soon be paid for non-genetically engineered soybeans. America's farmers are growing record-breaking quantities of genetically engineered soy during a time when the rest of the world is rejecting GE soy. So the prices are going down for genetically engineered soy and up for the non-genetically engineered variety. Again, this is not good news for the agricultural biotech industry. We expect the planting of biotech soybeans and corn to drop next year. Mandatory labeling legislation for genetically engineered foods is being implemented in many countries around the world. The mandatory labeling requirements are having a significant negative impact on the popularity of genetically engineered crops. Craig Winters Executive Director The Campaign to Label Genetically Engineered Foods The Campaign PO Box 55699 Seattle, WA 98155 Tel: 425-771-4049 Fax: 603-825-5841 E-mail: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Web Site: http://www.thecampaign.org Mission Statement: "To create a national grassroots consumer campaign for the purpose of lobbying Congress and the President to pass legislation that will require the labeling of genetically engineered foods in the United States." *************************************************************** The New York Times September 4, 2001 Altered Corn Surfaced Earlier By ANDREW POLLACK The government and the company that developed genetically modified StarLink corn had at least some indication that the corn might be entering the human food supply more than half a year before environmental advocates discovered it in taco shells, according to a government document. StarLink was approved for use as animal feed but not for human consumption because of concern it might cause allergic reactions. But last September, Friends of the Earth found traces of the corn in taco shells. That, and discoveries in other foods, set off food recalls and depressed American corn exports. But in a survey conducted in December 1999, nine months before the taco shell discovery, 2 of 230 farmers growing StarLink reported that they had sold the corn for food use or for export while another 12.6 percent said they did not know what happened to the corn after they had sold it. The corn was not supposed to be exported because it had not been approved in Europe and Japan. The survey was commissioned by Aventis CropScience, the crop's developer, which sent the results to the Environmental Protection Agency in a report dated Jan. 27, 2000. Parts of the Aventis (news/quote) report were obtained from the environmental agency under a freedom of information request by the Center for Food Safety, a Washington group critical of genetically engineered foods. Critics of biotechnology said the incident showed the looseness of the E.P.A.'s regulation. "It had a red flag that its approval process was not working," said Joseph Mendelson III, legal director of the Center for Food Safety. "Clearly they didn't do anything here until they became embarrassed." An E.P.A. spokesman said the agency was looking into the matter. An Aventis official said the company was "not pleased with how we responded" to the grower survey. This executive said that since the survey, done by an outside market research firm, was anonymous, it was impossible to identify the farmers who were selling their corn for improper uses. In general, Aventis officials have been speaking to reporters only on the condition that they not be identified. The E.P.A. is now considering whether to renew approvals for the so-called BT crops � genetically modified corn and cotton that contain a bacterial gene that produces a toxin that kills pests. Mr. Mendelson said that the StarLink incident had also raised doubts about whether regulations concerning these crops � like the requirement aimed to prevent overplanting so that pests do not become resistant to the toxin � would be adequately enforced. The report from Aventis to the E.P.A. said that the program to restrict StarLink to authorized uses was "highly effective." The survey questioned 8 percent of the growers who had signed agreements with the seed company. But after the situation with StarLink became public, many farmers said they had not signed such agreements or were unaware of any restrictions. When StarLink was found in the taco shells last September, neither the environmental agency nor Aventis indicated that they had had any inkling it would happen. "If there has been a violation of our licensing process, then we would have a very great concern," Stephen Johnson, assistant administrator for the E.P.A., was quoted as saying by The Washington Post (news/quote), which reported the taco shell discovery. Margaret Gadsby, a spokeswoman for Aventis, was quoted as saying, "We have difficulty imagining how our corn could end up in the human food supply." There has been as yet no proof that StarLink causes allergies. Government tests did not detect evidence of allergies in 17 people who complained of them after eating food they thought contained StarLink. But Keith Finger, a Florida optometrist who was one of those 17 people, yesterday released a letter written to him by his allergist saying that he "most likely" has an allergy to StarLink. The allergist, Norman Wasserman of Vero Beach, Fla., said in the letter that Dr. Finger had a reaction to an extract of StarLink corn in a skin prick test. Dr. Finger is suing Aventis and the company that made the food he says caused the reaction. *************************************************************** Asia's sensitivity over GMO worries US soy trade By Sambit Mohanty KOTA KINABALU, Malaysia, Sept 4 (Reuters) - The growing sensitivity of some Asian nations towards gene-altered soybeans and China's new genetically modified organisms (GMO) rules are increasingly causing concern among the U.S. soy trade, an American Soybean Association (ASA) official said on Tuesday. U.S. farm trade, just recovering from last year's controversy surrounding its gene-spliced StarLink corn, is working hard to ensure that Asian buyers get exactly what they want -- GMO or non-GMO products, said Corwin Fee, vice president and chairman of ASA's international marketing committee. "On the issue of Roundup Ready soybeans, we are definitely concerned," Fee told Reuters in an interview on the sidelines of a Southeast Asia Soy Buyers Conference. "We are willing to work with them (Asian buyers) even though they have been approved for food. But once again, if it is still a customer preference not to involve them, there has to be a way of communication and a way to rectify the problem," he added. Last month, Belgian scientists discovered gene fragments in Roundup Ready soybeans, grown from seed developed by biotechnology giant Monsanto Co. The soybeans are spliced with a bacterium to make them resistant to Roundup herbicide. Although the European Commission has said it had no scientific evidence that these beans - which environmental group Greenpeace wants banned - posed a health risk, some Asian buyers are not completely convinced. "South Korea has picked up a lot of concerns banished by the EU but we are willing to address that," Fee said. He said currently the demand for non-GMO soybeans in Asia was more than GMO beans, which echoed views of some South Korean buying groups who have said they would be stepping up non-GMO bean purchases this year. Fee said the relatively higher premiums on non-GMO beans had prompted him to cut down his own GMO soybeans production back in the U.S. and instead concentrate on producing more non-GMO beans. "I as a farmer last year grew all Round Up Ready soybeans. This year, I have cut down on that. Probably it will be the lowest amount of Round Up ready beans I will be growing in several years," Fee said. "It is mainly profit-oriented." Fee said the farm price of non-GMO beans was 30-35 cents a bushel, which was about 8-9 percent higher than GMO bean prices. "In previous years, customers did not understand that it costs more to get these products (non-GMO beans). They have finally come to realise that," he said. CHINA'S GMO RULES Fee added that the latest set of rules announced by China on GMO had bogged down U.S. soybean sales to China to some extent. "We are a little concerned about the regulations and laws that have been passed by China -- that no one seems to have a clear understanding of," Fee said. "But we are working with them to get a better understanding of what exactly they want." China was on a soybean buying spree in the first half of 2001, when imports rose 69.2 percent year-on-year to 5.97 million tonnes. Nearly three-quarters of it came from the United States. China, U.S.'s biggest soybean buyer, announced the rules in early June but the rules fell short of implementation details which traders say are not expected until after October. Asian trade sources say China has stepped up buying soybeans from South America recently. "There a little bit of hesitancy, until we have a clear understanding of what exactly they (China) expect, before we send vast volumes of soybeans there," Fee said. According to U.S. Department of Agriculture, 68 percent of U.S. soybeans are genetically modified. Trade sources say about 90 percent of Argentine soybeans are genetically modified. Brazil has said its soybeans are GMO-free, but trade sources believe GMO soy has been planted in southern Brazilian states. 06:11 09-04-01
