Wed, Jun 20, 2001 page24

• Biotech corn report in dispute

  KERNAL OF TRUTH Consumers are pursuing claims in court that trace quantities of StarLink, a genetically modified strain of corn, caused severe allergic reactions

  • BLOOMBERG
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  Seven-year-old Paul Bell of Edisto Beach, South Carolina, got so sick that he lost about 14 percent of his body weight in five days. Wallace Wasson, a 39-year-old Chicago paralegal, broke out in hives that caused scars.

  Both Bell's family and Wasson claim in a federal lawsuit that they had allergic reactions in September after eating taco shells contaminated with a genetically engineered corn called StarLink, developed by France's Aventis SA.

  While the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said last week that the evidence it reviewed doesn't support such claims, Bell and Wasson say Aventis is liable for their illnesses. And, biotechnology companies have been forced to rethink the way they sell, monitor and seek regulatory approval for such crops.

  

  Wallace Wasson, in the parking lot of his neighborhood grocery store in Chicago, describes an allergic reaction to taco shells made with traces of genetically modified corn, that he ate. This store is where he purchased the taco shells that later gave him hives.

  PHOTO: BLOOMBERG

  "No one is really certain about the long-term effects," said Chicago lawyer Clint Krislov, who is representing the Bell family and Wasson. "Aventis says it knows this is not an allergen. The only people that have spoken this way in the past are the tobacco companies. They just don't know."

  StarLink, genetically altered to produce its own natural insecticide, wasn't approved for human consumption and was intended only for livestock feed and industrial uses such as ethanol production. Traces of the corn got into the taco shells and other foods, leading to a recall of more than 300 products in the US and lawsuits by Krislov's clients and others.

  "Somebody screwed up or didn't do something they were supposed to do to keep this out of the food supply," said Krislov, who is seeking class-action status for his lawsuits.

  The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which oversees the corn because of its pesticide properties, will reconvene a panel of experts next month to consider whether StarLink should be ruled safe for human consumption. The CDC report lends credence to Aventis' claim that StarLink should be deemed safe in food if only in trace amounts.

  In December, the EPA panel said there was a "medium likelihood" that StarLink could cause allergic reactions, though it found a "low probability" of reactions at trace amounts.

  StarLink was developed by Aventis and sold in seed made by Garst Seed Co of Slater, Iowa. The strain mingled with regular corn at mills and became part of products made by Mexico's Gruma SA and Northfield, Illinois-based Kraft Foods Inc. In addition to the consumer lawsuits, farmers in Iowa, Illinois, Indiana and Minnesota have sued Aventis, alleging the company is responsible for the lost value of their corn crops.

  After receiving 51 complaints last year from consumers who said they got sick after eating products containing StarLink, the US Food and Drug Administration and the CDC tested blood samples of 17 people to determine if they suffered allergic reactions and if StarLink could have been the cause.

  The CDC concluded those people didn't have allergic reactions and turned its findings over to the EPA.

  One of the people tested, Keith Finger of Palm Bay, Florida, said the CDC's conclusion is wrong. Finger is suing Aventis, Garst Seed and closely held Azteca Foods Inc of Chicago.

  "This was an exercise by the government to whitewash and approve something that is not good for us," said Finger, a 57-year-old optometrist who said he had hives in his throat so serious that he couldn't breathe after eating the tortillas.

  Finger said he supports the idea of biotechnology to make food abundant and reduce the need for pesticides. Government regulators, researchers and manufacturers haven't paid enough attention to consumers, though, he said.

  "What are we to a multibillion-dollar industry?" Finger said.

  The CDC insisted its tests are reliable. Carol Rubin, an epidemiologist, said it's "highly unlikely" people were sickened by StarLink based on those blood tests, which looked for antibodies to the StarLink protein that doctors thought might cause an allergic reaction. No antibodies were found, she said.

  The agency doesn't dispute that the people had allergic reactions; they just weren't allergic to StarLink, Rubin said.

  While the StarLink episode received a great deal of public and media attention, US consumers have largely ignored the debate over engineered foods, said Thomas Hoban, a professor of sociology at North Carolina State University who conducts and monitors opinion polls.

  European and Japanese consumers have been much more skeptical of the technology, and some varieties of genetically engineered crops, including StarLink, are banned overseas.

  Genetically engineered crops have been planted in the US for only six years. StarLink, which includes a gene that creates a substance toxic to corn borers, was harvested in the past three years.

  Aventis stopped selling the corn last year and bought the 2000 StarLink crop from farmers. Trace amounts of the corn have shown up in other seed. That's led Aventis to seek a ruling allowing small amounts of the suspect protein into human food, which would prevent further recalls.
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