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.
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