Modified Corn Found in Taco Shells in Tests

A form of genetically modified corn not allowed in food because of concerns it could trigger allergies has been detected in Taco Bell brand taco shells that are sold in grocery stores, a coalition of biotech critics is expected to report this week.

The type of corn, produced by Aventis Corp. and called StarLink, was approved by federal authorities in 1998 as an animal feed. But because the corn has been genetically modified in a way that makes it more difficult to break down in the human intestine, regulators have refused to approve it for human use.

The possibility that the modified corn made it into food products has federal officials concerned, with several calling the development “very serious” if confirmed by further testing.

“If there has been a violation of our licensing process, then we would have a very great concern,” said Stephen Johnson, an assistant administrator for pesticides at the Environmental Protection Agency. “Likewise, we would want to make sure we are completely protecting the public health.”

Officials at the Food and Drug Administration, who called the possible presence of StarLink corn in human food “unlawful,” said Sunday that the agency has already started an investigation.

If the tests are confirmed, they will probably raise the volume in the already contentious debate over biotech foods, which in recent years have become commonplace in American grocery stores. While most of the country’s political, scientific and commercial establishment has embraced biotechnology as safe and useful, activists raise questions about its use and hope to inspire the kind of backlash present in Europe.

The group that had the taco shells tested, Genetically Engineered Food Alert, has asked the FDA to recall the products immediately.

“This corn is absolutely not supposed to be in our food, but an independent lab found it there anyway,” said Larry Bohlen of Friends of the Earth, a member of the coalition. “This shows a major regulatory failure and raises some real human health concerns.”

The group said this first finding was potentially “the tip of an iceberg,” and that it could be in many other products. Samples of taco shells from Taco Bell restaurants will be tested soon, group members said.

The taco shells tested were manufactured in Mexico for Taco Bell and were distributed by Kraft Foods Inc. Michael Mudd, Kraft’s vice president for corporate affairs, said the corn was bought by a Texas miller from farmers in six states, and that the miller had ordered a conventional form of corn.

“This is a serious issue and Kraft is doing everything we can to confirm whether or not this material is present in the product,” Mudd said. “If it is confirmed, we will immediately take--in consultation with the FDA--all appropriate steps.”

Biotech industry officials, however, questioned the testing techniques of Genetic Id, the Iowa company that concluded the unapproved corn was in the taco shells. At least once before, the company came to conclusions about the presence of genetically modified materials that were later proven inaccurate. Officials of Genetic Id, which does substantial testing of American products being shipped to Europe, have in the past been publicly skeptical about biotechnology.

Industry officials said testing for the protein is “not at all simple, and it is easy to get a false positive.”

Aware of the sensitivity of the issue, the company repeated the tests on the taco shells, according to Genetic Id Vice President Jeffrey Smith. He said company policy is to duplicate each test, so the taco shell sample was actually tested four times using a process called polymerase chain reaction. Each time, he said, researchers found 1% of the corn DNA to be from the unapproved corn, and found the presence of other biotech material.