National Starch Protects Purity of GM Products

National Starch Protects Purity of GM Products

ESCONDIDO, Calif.-- National Starch Food Innovation (NSFI) (www.foodinnovation.com) released details of how it protects the purity of corn used in its non-genetically modified (GM), Identity Preserved (IP) products as GM crop acreage in the United States increases.

According to the company, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) statistics show GM croplands in America grew by 11 percent in 2004, and biotech varieties now represent 45 percent of all corn planted in the United States. GM corn cultivation is increasing in part because GM crops are easier and less expensive to grow compared to traditional non-GM varieties, and high yields as well as low pesticide and herbicide requirements are attractive incentives to many farmers, the company said.

NSFI ensures the purity of its non-GM products through its TRUETRACE IP program. TRUETRACE tracks NSFI's food ingredients at all stages of development, including seed, crop, production and distribution. Farmers in the program grow non-GM corn exclusively or take special precautions to isolate GM corn from non-GM corn to prevent cross-contamination. They must also extensively document seed varieties, field locations and equipment cleaning, and are subject to periodic audits. Through the program, corn delivered to NSFI manufacturing facilities can be traced to the original farm on which it was grown and the seed varieties used in production.

NSFI also tests every shipment of corn it receives from farmers and tests the makeup of composite corn samples internally. "It acts as a sentinel, alerting us to any aspect of our system that isn't working as we intend it to. We can then trace the problem and address it," said Joe Emling, NSFI's manager, grain quality and traceability.