Posted on 18-4-2002

Gene Bomb

Monsanto Says Crops May Contain Genetically-Modified Canola Seed Monsanto
Co. believes that some of its canola seed might contain genetically
modified material that isn`t US federally approved. Angling to avoid a
massive recall of food products, the company is asking regulators to
forgive any presence of it.

by SCOTT KILMAN and JILL CARROLL, Wall Street Journal April 15, 2002.

The St. Louis-based biotechnology company has yet to detect it in the seeds
it has tested, but says trace amounts of the material were found last year
in Canadian seed, leading it to believe the same is possible in the U.S. In
conceding that for three years U.S. farmers have been planting canola seed
that may contain certain genetic material that was never meant to leave the
laboratory, Monsanto has become the latest example of the biotechnology
industry failing to control plants whose genes it has altered.

Monsanto, which is 85% owned by drug maker Pharmacia Corp., Peapack, N.J.,
insists that the canola seed in question is safe to consume. But
genetically modified food is an emotional issue for many consumers. And
Monsanto`s admission is sure to fuel consumer skepticism and inflame
opponents of gene-altered crops, who object to the idea of tinkering with
nature and who worry about cross-pollination with other crops. Clearly,
Monsanto is hoping to avoid a repeat of the biotechnology industry`s most
embarrassing and costly episode, in which a variety of genetically modified
corn approved only for livestock consumption and industrial use found its
way into the human food supply. Called StarLink, the corn was detected in
more than 300 products with brand names such as Kraft and Taco Bell,
resulting in enormous recalls in 2000.

At least one group opposed to genetically modified food, having learned
about Monsanto`s request, intends to fight it and to publicize its
implications -- that the biotechnology industry can`t always control the
spread of its own creations. ``This is genetic pollution,`` says Joseph
Mendelson, legal director of the Center for Food Safety, a Washington
advocacy group. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is leaning toward
granting Monsanto`s unusual request, which the company made in a November
letter, but hasn`t done so formally. The Food and Drug Administration is
reviewing safety data from Monsanto. If Monsanto fails to receive federal
approval for the altered organism, known as GT200, the discovery of its
presence in U.S. canola wouldn`t necessarily mandate a food recall, as the
laws don`t spell it out. But antibiotechnology groups would likely clamor
for a recall.

The situation is potentially a big headache for the U.S. food industry,
because canola oil is a basic ingredient in hundreds of products. Canola`s
popularity has increased because it is lower in saturated fats than other
edible oils. About two-thirds of the canola crops in the U.S. are already
genetically modified. A spokesman for ConAgra Foods Inc., maker of Wesson
oil, says the company doesn`t screen its canola oil for genetically
modified ingredients. He wouldn`t comment on what the company would do if
GT200 is detected in its supplies. Monsanto created GT200 in the 1990s
while trying to produce a seed capable of growing into a canola plant
invulnerable to Roundup, a Monsanto weedkiller. Such a plant would enable
farmers to liberally apply the herbicide without damaging their crop.
Ultimately, Monsanto chose to develop and market canola seed that had been
modified differently. Called RT73, it is also invulnerable to Roundup.
Deciding that the second version
performed better, Monsanto sought and received federal approval to market
RT73 canola seed. Federal scrutiny is required of any plant containing a
foreign gene. Monsanto inserted genes from microorganisms into both
versions of its canola seed. But in the November letter to the USDA,
Monsanto said that GT200 ``has the potential to be present in low,
adventitious levels in commercial canola varieties.``

A majority of the 1.5 million acres of canola fields in the U.S. are
believed to be planted with seed containing Monsanto`s federally cleared
Roundup-tolerant gene. Last year, the GT200 version showed up in Canadian
canola seed, forcing Monsanto to recall hundreds of tons of it. Although
Monsanto had sought and received Canadian approval for GT200, the recall
was necessary because Canada exports huge amounts of canola to Japan, which
hadn`t approved GT200. Monsanto says it never sold the GT200 version
commercially in Canada and isn`t sure why it wound up in canola seed there.

But rather than hysterical reactions, the industry argues that government
and society should accept trace-level contaminations. Officials of
Monsanto, Aventis and other crop biotech companies want a new policy from
the White House that would allow for the accidental presence of trace
amounts of some genetically modified materials in seed and food. But the
Bush administration couldn`t do that without setting off protests from
antibiotechnology groups. ``We don`t want the federal government to
insulate the crop-biotechnology industry from liability,`` said Mr.
Mendelson of the Center for Food Safety.