by St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Federal regulators announced Friday that farmers can plant a corn genetically engineered for ethanol production as early as this spring. But as the corn and ethanol industries celebrated the decision, critics of genetically modified crops sounded warnings, saying the corn could contaminate food supplies.
The corn, which is designed to make ethanol processing more efficient, was developed by Monsanto competitor Syngenta AG, based in Switzerland. Monsanto, based in Creve Couer, does not market a corn specifically modified for ethanol growth or production, but does sell a hybrid variety geared to ethanol.
For Midwestern corn growers, the announcement by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service came as good news.
"What it means for producers is that there's a new specialty market that's being developed," said Nathan Fields, a spokesman for the Chesterfield-based National Corn Growers Association. "This gives them a chance to diversify."
Last year, 86 percent of American corn was grown with genetically modified seed. About 40 percent of the nation's corn is converted to ethanol. But the Syngenta corn will be the first on the market that is engineered specifically for ethanol and processing improvements.
The corn, while it will not be marketed for food, was deemed safe as food or feed by regulators in 2007. But the food industry, particularly corn millers, have said that any cross-contamination into the food supply could be ruinous to their businesses, because it could diminish the quality of corn products, and could be damaging to export markets that don't allow genetically modified foods.
Syngenta has said that farmers who grow the corn will enter into "closed loop" agreements that require them to sell the corn only to certain ethanol processors, thereby minimizing the risk of contamination.
The Canadian government has also approved the cultivation of the Syngenta corn. The company plans to work with small groups of growers and plants in western Nebraska and Kansas, and will broaden production next year.
Advocacy groups point to previous control problems. From 2001 to 2004, Syngenta accidentally sold a corn variety, called StarLink, to American farmers without approval to do so.
"The resemblance to StarLink is uncanny," said Bill Freese, of the Washington-based advocacy group, the Center for Food Safety. "Much like StarLink, Syngenta's corn poses allergy concerns and is not meant for human food use."
Margaret Mellon, of the Union of Concerned Scientists -- a nonprofit science advocacy group that seeks greater regulation of genetically modified food -- argues current safeguards won't prevent contamination.
"There is no way to protect food corn crops from contamination by ethanol corn," Mellon said. "Even with the most stringent precautions, the wind will blow and standards will slip. There are no required precautions."
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