StarLink Blamed For Sickness
A Florida man told a government science panel Wednesday that despite blood tests indicting otherwise, he had a serious allergic reaction to genetically engineered StarLink corn.
The corn, which produces its own insecticide, is currently allowed only in animal feed because of worries it could trigger allergies. The discovery of StarLink in taco shells last year led to a series of recalls and government efforts to remove it from the corn supply.
Now, StarLink manufacturer Aventis wants to Environmental Protection Agency to revise its 1998 rule banning the corn from human foods. Otherwise, Aventis says, more recalls might be necessary. The panel is meeting to weigh the Aventis request to allow a small amount of StarLink in human food.
Keith Finger showed the panel pictures of welts and rashes he says he suffered Sunday after he ate a mixture of StarLink corn and water. He says he earlier had allergic reactions to tortilla chips that tested positive for the corn.
"The itching was horrible," Finger told the scientists Tuesday.
Finger is among 17 people whose blood the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tested in the spring for sensitivity to a special protein in the corn. The tests, based on criteria set by FDA, were negative. Like Finger, all the 17 people had reported allergic reactions after eating corn products.
Some of the scientists questioned the effectiveness of the test and why the government had not sought out more potential victims by contacting doctors around the country. Federal officials said they lacked the money for wider-ranging tests.
A member of the panel, Dean Metcalfe, an allergy specialist at the National Institutes of Health, said Wednesday that symptoms like Finger's would be sufficiently convincing for a doctor to order tests to tell whether he was allergic to the corn.
A protein in StarLink, Cry9C, breaks down slowly in the digestive system, an indication that it might induce allergic reactions. However, scientists say people would have to be exposed to the protein repeatedly to become sensitive to it.
In December, the Scientific Advisory Panel found that StarLink has a "medium likelihood" of being an allergen and a "low probability" of triggering allergies.
The panel will review new data, decide whether to continue to take public comment, and then make a recommendation to the EPA. There is no timetable for a final decision.
In a report to the panel Tuesday, EPA said testing by corn processors and seed companies have helped to dramatically reduce the amount of StarLink corn that could be in food.
In its report, EPA says the actual levels of StarLink in U.S. corn supplies range from 0.34 to 8 parts per bilion, depending on the method used to make the estimate. EPA says the corn "will essentially be gone" from grain supplies in two to three years.
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Both the EPA and Aventis released studies in April showing that by the time StarLink is processed into corn oil or syrup, none of the suspected allergen remained. That meant last autumn's recalls, while required by law, may not have been scientifically necessary.
The Agriculture Department reported Tuesday that it had accounted for all but 720,000 of the 128 million bushels of StarLink corn. Another 4.9 million bushels may have been mixed with grain that went to food processors.
Critics of StarLink — and GM foods in general — say the government does too little to regulate them.
The FDA has proposed new rules offering guidelines for voluntary labeling of biotech food and required the FDA be notified of new biotech products. But the FDA, which treats biotech food like all other food products, does not do its own testing.
However, the StarLink scare has encouraged commercial farmers to test their corn grain. Many of their contracts with buyers now require such testing.
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