A massive 430 million bushels of American maize—equivalent to 4 per
cent of the entire 1999 harvest—is contaminated with StarLink, a
genetically engineered variety that hasn’t been approved for human consumption.
The figure, admitted by Aventis CropScience this week, is much higher than
previous estimates. John Wichtrich of Aventis claims the company has now
identified 99 per cent of all the Starlink-contaminated corn. Last week,
Canadian authorities confiscated two shipments of contaminated maize. And a food
company had to withdraw its meat-free “corn dogs” last week after they were
found to be contaminated.
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