Tyson stops buying StarLink gene-altered corn
October 20, 2000 6:37pm
Source: Reuters
By K.T. Arasu
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Tyson Foods Inc. , the world's largest poultry
producer, said on Friday it has stopped feeding its chickens with a
gene-altered corn approved for use only as animal feed but turned up
in taco shells and flour. The Springdale, Ark.-based Tyson is
believed to be the first food company to stop the use of StarLink
corn as an animal feed, as concerns emerged that the corn has spread
through the U.S. food chain. ``Tyson has elected to stop acquiring
corn that we know is StarLink corn,'' Tyson spokesman Ed Nicholson
told Reuters. He said the company did not plan to carry out
independent testing but will leave to its suppliers to ensure corn it
purchases is free of StarLink. ``This is basically a precautionary
move to avoid confusion among consumers, although to my
understanding, there has been no links of the protein in StarLink
transferring to products.''
The protein, known as Cry9C and not found in other crops that are
genetically modified, is safe for animals but may trigger allergic
reactions in humans, including fever, rashes or diarrhea, according
to government scientists. European pharmaceutical giant Aventis SA ,
which engineered StarLink corn, has said 90 percent of the corn has
been accounted for and was ``tracking'' the remainder. But sources
close to the company and in the industry said that some 9 million
bushels of StarLink corn is unaccounted for. Nicholson said Tyson had
stopped buying StarLink corn about a month ago, when news of the corn
entering the food chain and turning up in taco shells was first made
public. The episode began late last month when the largest food
manufacturer in the United States, Kraft Foods, a unit of Philip
Morris Cos. Inc. , recalled Taco Bell brand taco shells because they
contained StarLink corn.
On Tuesday, ConAgra Foods Inc. , the country's second-largest food
manufacturer, said it had suspended milling operations at its corn
processing plant in Kansas while it tests for StarLink corn. Azteca
Milling, a distributor to Mission Foods and other food makers, said
it stopped shipping and milling yellow corn on Sept. 19. Azteca and
Mission also voluntarily recalled some yellow corn products because
they could contain StarLink. The two companies are units of Texas
food producer Gruma Corp., a subsidiary of Mexican food group Gruma .
Aventis has since agreed to cancel its license to sell the StarLink
corn after government officials said the firm was responsible for
ensuring farmers properly segregate the corn. The company has been
buying back StarLink corn, paying farmers who planted the variety 25
cents more than the market rate to channel the grain solely as animal
feed.
Nicholson said Tyson might have bought StarLink corn before the Kraft
recall of taco shells, but added that ``it will be difficult to say
because it was not identified then''. ``It will be virtually
impossible to say that none of it (StarLink) will end up in our feed
because our mills are not testing at this point,'' he added. He said
Tyson buys about 6.3 million bushels of corn each week. ^ REUTERS@
Copyright 1999 Reuters Limited.