StarLink Ban for Humans Is Total

Taking the advice of an independent panel of scientists, the Environmental Protection Agency said Friday that it won’t allow even small amounts of genetically engineered StarLink corn into the human food supply because it has not been proved safe for human consumption.

StarLink, which contains a pest-repelling protein suspected of being an allergen to humans, was approved for use only in animal feed but wound up in the human food supply, sparking nationwide product recalls.

Its developer, Aventis, withdrew the corn from the market but asked the EPA to allow trace amounts of it in the food supply to avoid more recalls.

Midwestern corn growers said the decision could hurt their exports, but consumer and environmental groups hailed it as a victory for the public.

“The science we have before us now indicates that it’s not possible to establish a tolerance” or maximum safe level for StarLink, Steve Johnson, an assistant EPA administrator, said Friday.

The panel said StarLink should work itself out of the corn supply by next year.

The scientists said they still believe there is a “medium likelihood” that StarLink is an allergen, but there is only a low risk that consumers would eat enough to develop an allergy.

Factors that prompted the panel to reject Aventis’ petition included concerns about the accuracy of tests to detect the protein and about Aventis’ estimates of the amount of corn still in the human food chain, plus the limited amount of federal testing.

Corn growers said it could take longer for StarLink to work its way out of the food supply.

“We know we can’t promise zero [StarLink],” said Fred Yoder, a corn grower in Plain City, Ohio, and president-elect of the National Corn Growers Assn. “But we can come close.”

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Times wire services were used in compiling this report.