Kellogg Hit With StarLink Contamination

CHICAGO--StarLink has reared its ugly head again, this time in the form of a meatless corndog. On March 8, Greenpeace announced that it found not only genetically modified (GM) soy in three of Kellogg's Morningstar products, but also the GM corn, StarLink, in its corndog product. The environmental group filed a notice with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to ask for an immediate recall and investigation into Morningstar products.

On Feb. 24, Greenpeace purchased three products from a Baltimore Safeway, when it was then sent to a British laboratory where traces of GM soy and corn were found. Because the lab did not have the facilities to test if the corn was StarLink, it was sent to Iowa-based Genetic ID, which found the StarLink contamination.

According to Battle Creek, Mich.-based Kellogg, the corndogs were made in October 2000 from corn that was part of the 1999 harvest; the products contained GM soy due to a supplier's mistake. In a Reuters release, Christine Ervin, a spokeswoman for Kellogg, said the company had sent the corn dogs for independent testing. "We understand that the lab they (Greenpeace) sent it to has supposedly found it (StarLink)," Ervin told Reuters. "We have informed the FDA and are sending it for independent testing." On March 13, Worthington Foods announced a full recall of all the corn dogs, after its tests confirmed the StarLink contamination.

Greenpeace stated in a press release that Kellogg's had told customers that the company that had weeded out all GM soy from its products by fall of last year. Nonetheless, the company said that it had never labeled its products as GM-free.

For additional information, visit www.greenpeace.org or www.worthingtonfoods.com.