In a one-day meeting held in Washington, DC, the SAP, comprised of experts from around the world, heard presentations by the EPA on reports from consumers who claimed to have had allergic reactions after eating products containing StarLink. Aventis is trying to get EPA approval that would allow the genetically engineered corn to enter the human food supply. At the moment, it is only approved for use as animal feed. One of the reasons the company is trying to convince the EPA that StarLink is safe is because it has been unable to prevent contamination of regular corn by the StarLink variety.
"This is the second time that the EPA has convened an advisory panel on StarLink and both times it has concluded that concerns about StarLink in the food supply are valid," said Richard Caplan, Environmental Advocate for the State Public Interest Research Group.
One scientist on the SAP panel stated that there is no threshold as to what amount of a substance makes a food an allergen. Even extremely small amounts of the corn could cause an allergic reaction in humans. This is especially worrisome, due to the recent reports of Genfood contamination.
Senator Richard Durbin of Illinois uncovered evidence showing that the level of the suspected protein allergen that is genetically engineered into StarLink corn may be 20 to 500 times higher than has been reported by Aventis.
The EPA's scientific panel advisory report can be found at www.epa.gov/scipoly/sap.
In addition, Senator Richard Durbin (D-Il), found evidence in Adventis' records that the level of the suspected protein allergen engineered into the corn may be 20-500 times higher than Adventis has reported.
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