''The US government's inability to contain StarLink shows how other undesirable biotech crops could get loose in the world food supply.

Larry Bohlen Friends of the Earth

This follows revelations last week that StarLink, a genetically modified variety of yellow corn engineered by Aventis CropScience, had been found in white corn products after consumers complained of allergic reactions.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not approved StarLink for human consumption because of its potential to trigger allergy symptoms. Although it is supposed to be fed only to animals, the modified corn was detected in yellow corn foodstuffs late last year, when people reported adverse reactions.

Some manufacturers and retailers of the foodstuffs - including tortilla chips and taco shells - switched to white corn, reasoning that this way they could be sure there was no Starlink, which is yellow, in their products. But in February, the FDA found genetic material from StarLink in Kash 'n' Karry brand white corn tortilla chips in Florida.

''The US government's inability to contain StarLink shows how other undesirable biotech crops could get loose in the world food supply,'' says Larry Bohlen, director of Friends of the Earth's health and environment program.

Since most European countries, including Britain, France and Italy, prohibit the sale of foods containing biotech ingredients unless they are clearly labeled, the StarLink contamination has provoked concerns that bio-engineered grains could get into exported food.

The controversy over biologically engineered corn and the continuing discovery of StarLink corn in products sold abroad has already prompted one country, Sri Lanka, to ban any use of the biotech corn, says Bohlen.

The World Health Organization and United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization are expected to soon approve international safety guidelines for genetically modified foods. If approved, the standards would require a tightening of US safety assessment procedures if genetically modified crops from the United States are to have access to agricultural markets abroad.

The FDA does not require that all genetically modified foods be subjected to safety assessments before they are launched on the market, as they are in the European Union.

The FDA only found the genetic traces of the StarLink corn after it received a complaint by Keith Finger, a doctor living in Florida. Last year, Finger had reported suffering an allergic reaction to yellow corn products tainted with StarLink. In February, he reported a milder reaction after eating white corn chips.

The FDA's discovery of StarLink in a white corn product is significant, says Bohlen, because it comes despite manufacturers' switch to white corn, which makes up less than three percent of the US corn market. It also raises serious new questions about the spread of the genetically engineered crop, adds Bohlen, because the gene could have found its way into white corn through cross- pollination.

Federal regulators are now investigating the facility that produced the white corn chips to determine how the snack food was contaminated. Both the Kash 'n' Karry and Food Lion grocery chains that sold the products, voluntarily pulled the product from their shelves this week.

Finger was one of dozens of people who reported that they had suffered an allergic reactions to yellow corn products tainted with StarLink last year.

Last month, the US government released a report that concluded that 17 people - including Finger - who complained of possible allergy attacks did not have any antibodies in their blood linked to StarLink's key component.

Environmentalists, however, say the report is flawed and inconclusive. They argue that the latest news proves that more comprehensive tests are needed.

StarLink is genetically altered to contain the plant pesticide Bacillus thuringienis, or Bt, which kills the dreaded European corn borer. Aventis has applied for an exemption to the government's restriction of StarLink.

While the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has stated that StarLink may cause allergies in humans, a special advisory panel of the administration will meet July 17-18 to discuss whether enough scientific evidence exists to safely allow small amounts of StarLink in human foods.

Bohlen, whose research last year alerted the FDA to the spread of StarLink into human food products, says the new reports of contaminated white corn should prompt the EPA to revise its estimates of people exposed to StarLink.

''Because allergies develop over time, this increase in exposure increases the likelihood that people will develop allergies to StarLink,'' he says.

Unable to guarantee the complete separation of StarLink from other corn varieties, US corn growers also want regulators to allow a certain amount of StarLink corn in food products.

An absolute zero percent presence of StarLink corn in foods eaten by humans is not realistic, says David Uchic, a spokesperson for the National Corn Growers Association, because contamination could occur through cross-pollination and during storage.

Copyright 2001 IPS

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