GE Crop Contaminates $2.7 Million Worth of Soybeans

WASHINGTON--The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) are in the midst of reaching a settlement with a biotech company that may not have been cautious enough with its genetically engineered (GE) crop. To compound the situation, the GE corn in question was being grown for pharmaceutical or industrial chemical purposes (it was unknown as of press time which one), rather than nutritional needs.

According to a report in The New York Times, College Station, Texas-based ProdiGene planted less than an acre of corn that had been modified with an unidentified protein. The plot was planted in Nebraska during 2001; however, that same plot--which still had a few errant corn stalks on it--was used to grow 500-bushels' worth of non-GE soybeans. According to Cindy Smith, acting deputy administrator for biotechnology regulatory services at USDA, these soybeans were then brought to a grain elevator and mixed with 500,000 bushels of soybeans.

In an article by the The Washington Post, it was reported that the government has quarantined the affected crops while a decision is made regarding the soybeans' fate. The Post reports that USDA inspectors found out about the problem in October, within 24 hours of harvest. While FDA and USDA investigate the matter, the Times reported that all bushels brought into contact with the GE corn may now have to be destroyed. That could mean up to $2.7 million in lost crops.

Neither the company nor the government would say if a human could be harmed by eating the contaminated soy. ProdiGene's previous attempts at growing different medications from crops include a hepatitis B vaccine and an insulin-making enzyme.

"As part of its ongoing commitment to meet or exceed best practices in our industry, ProdiGene is working out the terms of [the biotech] program to enhance our compliance and to ensure the safest and most responsible manufacturing processed," stated Anthony Laos, company president and chief executive officer, in a company press release.

ProdiGene (www.prodigene.com) may face fines or penalties for not following the terms of its permit when planting the GE corn; it also faces having to reimburse farmers and the grain elevator for its losses.

"Our primary concern is to make sure that nothing has entered the food or feed supply," Smith said, "and we're very confident about that."

According to Craig Winters, executive director of the Seattle-based The Campaign To Label Genetically Engineered Foods (www.thecampaign.org), the biotech industry is likely to say that the discovery of the GE soybeans so quickly after contamination shows that the regulatory system is working. "Until recently, our major complaints about genetically engineered corn have been that these plants are contaminating organic corn and possibly destroying endangered species," he said in a statement. "Now it appears that biotech crops used as factories to create pharmaceutical drugs and industrial chemicals have the potential to contaminate large amounts of the human food supply.

"Allowing these biotech drug crops to be grown in open fields is an accident waiting to happen," Winters added. "Let's hope that we don't need to wait until pharmaceutical drugs are found in corn flakes before our government agencies act responsibly."