Sharper Oversight for Biofoods

The costly recall of Taco Bell brand taco shells mistakenly manufactured with a small amount of genetically modified animal-feed grain should prompt sharper oversight of the rapidly growing but virtually unregulated genetically modified food industry. The taco shells--recalled by their distributor, Kraft Foods, on Friday--included a type of bioengineered corn, StarLink, that contains a pest-repelling protein that is potentially a human allergen.

The genetically modified feed corn could have been mixed into taco grain during shipping or storage. There is no evidence that anyone has been harmed. Still, it seems careless to allow the grain, the only one of its type not approved for human consumption, to be stored and handled with little requirement for separation or labeling.

U.S. attitudes about genetically modified foods, even after the recall, are still far from the horror at “Frankenfoods” that pervades Europe, but for how long?

Even Kraft called on the FDA to develop tests to detect genetically modified ingredients before allowing them on the market. A sensible step, but the agency’s labs are currently unable to detect specific DNA in processed foods, and the agency’s bureaucracy is even more backward than its science. The StarLink corn in the taco shells was detected by a consumer group’s scientists, not the FDA.

In May the FDA released a proposal asking biotechnology companies to consider voluntary labeling of genetically modified ingredients and to give the FDA more notice before releasing new products. That does not really amount to much oversight.

The taco shell problem should not lend credence to environmental extremists who wrongly claim that GM (genetically modified) foods are by definition dangerous. The group that staged a destructive raid at a UC San Diego agricultural lab last month, for instance, is on the fringe of objection to GM foods, and its criminal vandalism should be punished with swift, tough sanctions. A bill that Gov. Gray Davis signed into law earlier this month, doubling the fines levied against people caught destroying research crops, should help discourage vandalism.

Nevertheless, the Kraft recall is one illustration of the need to establish public confidence. Another is a study published earlier this month in the journal Science, in which British researchers suggested that a new biotech crop engineered to kill weeds could starve the skylark; this tuneful bird, beloved in English poetry, eats mainly weed seeds.

A report on GM foods that the Environmental Defense Fund and the National Academy of Sciences released in April offers a blueprint for responsible regulation. The report found no proof that genetically modified foods then on the market were unsafe--after all, at least 60% of processed foods on store shelves today have genetically modified ingredients. But the report did call for improvements, including better labeling and testing to assess the potential of foreign genes to trigger allergies.

The Taco Bell shells accounted for about half of the $100 million in sales generated by the brand last year. The economic cost alone means state and federal officials can no longer afford to watch the growth of the genetically modified food industry from the sidelines.