No Temporary OK for Bioengineered Corn

The Environmental Protection Agency will not grant temporary approval to allow a bioengineered variety of corn known as StarLink in human food despite a growing number of food industry recalls and production line disruptions, government sources said. “We’re not planning on granting any sort of temporary exemption or changing our position on this,” said one government official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “The agency is on record with our concerns about potential allergenicity.” The food industry is expected to submit new human health data to the EPA this week to make its case that the StarLink variety of yellow corn is safe for human food, said a second official. “All of our decisions are driven by science and we are constantly reviewing new science,” the second source said. “But the idea of a temporary change is not on the table.” StarLink, made by French company Aventis, was approved by the EPA for use only as an animal feed because of unanswered questions about whether the gene-altered corn’s unique protein could be an allergen for some people. U.S. regulators are now investigating how some of the corn made its way into taco shells, which have been recalled by several manufacturers.