Aventis Asks Japan to Approve Controversial
StarLink Corn

JAPAN: Aventis asks Japan to approve StarLink for feed
23 Feb 2001
Source: Reuters

TOKYO, Feb 23 (Reuters) - The Japanese unit of Franco-German life
sciences company Aventis SA has applied to sell its StarLink biotech
corn to Japan for use in animal feed, the Agriculture Ministry said on
Friday.

StarLink is not approved for either human or animal consumption in
Japan.

The gene-spliced corn has become a hot topic in Japan, where consumers
have been vocal in their opposition against genetically modified foods.

The discovery of StarLink traces in food and animal feed by a domestic
consumer group in late October prompted Japan to sharply cut its
purchases of U.S. corn.

Ministry officials declined to comment on whether or when the approval
would be made.

The ministry, which overseas feed products, said earlier this month
that its test results showed no genetic problems in poultry raised on
feed containing StarLink corn.

It is also conducting similar tests on chicken eggs, dairy cattle and
pork, it said.

Japan imports four million tonnes of corn per year for food and
another 12 million tonnes for animal feed, mostly from the United
States.

In the United States, StarLink was approved for animal feed but not
for human consumption due to concerns about potential allergic
reactions.

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