NOTE: According to the USDA, FDA, EPA press statement released late Friday (!), “Dow reported that in 2007 approximately 53,000 acres of the affected products were planted in the United States.”
Although the contaminated corn seed has been grown since 2006 it was apparently never detected till January this year. The US Government was told about the problem on January 25th, and has taken nearly a month to come up with a response to tell the rest of us.
According to Dow, those tens of thousands of acres of contaminated corn all originated because pollen from some unapproved GM corn stalks growing in a research plot “landed on a patch of approved stalks”. GM crop trials anyone?
For the official US Government press release: http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/0/d6e59239f16a8fa1852573f7006c1fc3?
Unapproved biotech corn grown in Iowa
By PHILIP BRASHER, Des Moines Register Washington Bureau
February 22 2008
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080222/
BUSINESS/80222036/1001/
Washington, D.C. – Some corn seed produced by Dow AgroSciences and grown in Iowa has been contaminated with small amounts of an unapproved biotech variety since 2006, the company and government officials disclosed Friday.
Federal officials said that there was no risk to humans or livestock from the grain and that it won’t be recalled. However, Dow has recalled the contaminated seed that was sold for the 2008 crop.
Most of the contaminated corn was planted in Iowa and most of the recalled seed had been distributed in the state, according to the company.
It is the latest in a series of incidents in which unapproved biotech varieties of corn and rice have made their way into seed or grain supplies. The first incident occurred in 2000 when a genetically modified corn variety known as StarLink was found in food products despite not having been approved for human consumption.
Greg Jaffe of the Center for Science in the Public Interest said the Dow mixup shows that the biotech industry isn’t policing itself adequately.
The contamination occurred when pollen from the unapproved biotech corn stalks landed on a patch of approved stalks, said Garry Hamlin, a spokesman for Dow. Both types of plants were growing in the same research plot.
Dow discovered the contaminated seed while doing some testing last month and notified the government Jan. 25, Hamlin said.
The contaminated seed was sold by Dow affiliate Mycogen Seeds under the labels Herculex RW and Herculex XTRA. The seed is genetically engineered to make the plants toxic to insect pests.
The Environmental Protection Agency said the contaminated grain posed no safety risk because the proteins produced by the unapproved Dow variety, known as Event 32, were identical to the proteins in an approved variety, known as Event 22.
USDA, EPA and FDA Statement on Genetically Engineered Corn “Event 32”
Release date: 02/22/2008
Contact Information:
Cindy Ragin, APHIS (301) 734-7280 / cindy.n.ragin@aphis.usda.gov
Dale Kemery, EPA (202) 564-4355 / kemery.dale@epa.gov
Stephanie Kwisnek, FDA (301) 436-1408 / stephanie.kwisnek@fda.hhs.gov
(Washington, D.C. – Feb. 22, 2008) The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are coordinating efforts following notification by Dow AgroSciences that the company detected extremely low levels of an unregistered genetically engineered (GE) pesticide product known as a plant-incorporated protectant (PIP) in 3 of its commercial GE hybrid corn seed lines. The unregistered product produces proteins that are identical to a registered product. USDA, EPA and FDA have concluded that there are no public health, food or feed safety concerns. Additionally, USDA and EPA have determined that the unregistered GE corn PIP poses no plant pest or environmental concerns.
The unregistered GE corn PIP, known as Event 32, was found in some Herculex® RW and Herculex® XTRA Rootworm Protection products. Seed containing low levels of the unregistered Event 32 was inadvertently sold to farmers by Dow’s affiliate Mycogen Seeds and planted in 2006 and 2007. EPA and USDA previously approved Herculex® Rootworm Protection products containing a closely related PIP, Event 22. These products are also approved for use in several foreign countries.
Through careful analysis, EPA determined that the introduced proteins produced by Event 32 are identical to those approved for Event 22, and therefore they are covered by an existing tolerance exemption (EPA food safety clearance). FDA has concluded there are no food or feed safety concerns because EPA has determined that the introduced proteins in Event 32 are safe and because corn containing Event 32 is present in food or feed, if at all, only at low levels. In addition, APHIS’ scientific analysis concluded that Event 32 poses no plant pest or environmental concerns.
The 2008 U.S. corn crop will not be affected. APHIS took steps to ensure Dow recalled all affected seed that was shipped to dealers for the 2008 planting season. APHIS and EPA are coordinating on the investigation of potential violations under their respective regulatory acts.
Corn Event 32 was found at extremely low levels-approximately 3 seeds per 1,000-in affected Herculex seed products. Dow reported that in 2007 approximately 53,000 acres of the affected products were planted in the United States. Total U.S. corn acreage in 2007 was more than 93 million acres. Taking into account, the low levels of Event 32 in the Herculex seed products as well as the very small proportion of these seeds that were planted, any amount of Event 32 in harvested corn would be negligible. It is estimated that no more than 0.0002 percent (two tenthousandths of one percent) of the 2007 corn crop may have contained Event 32.
For more information on the respective roles of USDA APHIS, EPA, and FDA in the federal regulation of GE plants, go to the United States Agencies Unified Biotechnology Web site at http://usbiotechreg.nbii.gov/