Rolling the Dice with Allergies
corn's ability to kill pests. In addition to having longevity in the digestive tract, StarLink protein's molecular weight is "consistent with something that can trigger an allergic reaction."20 The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which oversees GM crops that create their own pesticide, therefore, did not approve the corn for human comumption. (It is interesting to note that the FDA did not express concern about StarLhk. In a May 29, 1998 letter, the FDA wrote to AgrEvo (the company that developed StarLink, later purchased by Aventis) "Based on the &ty and nutritional assessment you have conducted, it is our understanding that AgrEvo has concluded that corn grain and forage derived fiom the new variety are not materially Merent in composition, safety, or other relevant parameters fiom corn grain or forage currently on the market, and that do they do not raise issues that would require premarket review or approval by FDA."21 Note that the FDA here relies entirely on the company's own safety assessment, as it does fbr all GM crops.) The EPA, however, did allow StarLink to be fed to hogs, cows, and other livestock. The EPA also required that the manufacturer let farmers know that the corn must be segregated. Farmers were supposed to sign statements that any StarLink they grew, plus any corn grown within 660 feet of it, was only to be used for animal feed or industrial (&el) purposes, but not put into the human food chain. In spite of these requirements, the word about the corn's special handling instructions didn't circulate much. Farmers didn't know; grain elevators didn't know. In fact, some StarLink seed tags explicitly stated that the corn was suitable for "forage or grain for food, feed or grain pro~essing."~~ Therefore, although StarLink was planted on less than 1 percent of U.S. cornfields-312,000 acres-it was readily mixed in grain silos across the United States, contaminating 22 percent of the grain tested by the USDA. Some proportion of StarLink was eventually found in tacos, corn chips, corn meal, and all things corn. Over 10