FDA Expands Testing of Food for Biotech Corn

The Food and Drug Administration plans to test snack chips, breakfast cereals and other foods to see whether they contain the same unapproved variety of biotech corn found in taco shells, a government source said. The FDA decided to take the action after its tests confirmed the presence of a gene-spliced corn variety made by Aventis in Kraft Foods-manufactured Taco Bell brand shells. The corn, sold to farmers under the brand name StarLink, is allowed in animal feed but has not been approved for use in human food because of concerns about allergic reactions. “The agency does plan to test other processed corn products in the near future, but the details have not yet been worked out,” said an FDA official, speaking on condition of anonymity. To reassure Japan and other big foreign buyers of U.S. corn, the Agriculture Department said last week it would spend $90 million to $100 million to immediately purchase all the remaining StarLink corn from farmers.