The Campaign to Label Genetically Engineered Foods

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November 17

Fear grows in the pharmers' field of dreams -- The Age (Australia)

To protect our health, we have fluoride in our water and iodine in our salt; why not codeine in corn cobs or antibiotics in rice? The stumbling block, of course, is the issue of genetic containment: How can we stop engineered genes from leaking out into other plants?

November 16

Corn for growing far afield? / A mishap with gene-altered grain spotlights the odds of contamination -- Washington Post

The chief executive of ProdiGene Inc., the company that mishandled gene-altered corn in Iowa and Nebraska, said yesterday that his scientists will carefully study the possibility of growing such corn only in parts of the country where it could not contaminate the food supply.

That pledge by Anthony G. Laos, president and chief executive of the College Station, Tex., company, was a break from ProdiGene's past statements claiming that corn altered to make industrial or pharmaceutical proteins could be a boon for family farmers throughout the midwestern Corn Belt.

Second line of defense catches bio-corn remnants in soybeans -- Lincoln Journal Star

Along with every biotechnology breakthrough in agriculture comes the potential for breakdown.

A breakdown happened in a soybean field in the Aurora area in early October.

Biotech company to isolate plants / Firm says it will keep corn away from food but still use it in medicinal products -- Des Moines Register

The biotechnology company accused of nearly contaminating the food supply with its pharmaceutical corn says it will grow the plants only in isolated areas next year - far from food crops.

However, Texas-based ProdiGene Inc. will not stop using corn in its development of vaccines and other medical and veterinary products, the company's chief executive, Anthony Laos, said Friday.

November 15

USDA probes Nebraska biotech crop contamination -- Reuters

The U.S. government said this week it was investigating if soybeans grown in a Nebraska field were accidentally contaminated by a biotech corn variety engineered to produce an experimental type of insulin.

US soybean group says biotech snafu won't hurt trade -- Reuters

The possible contamination in Nebraska of a batch of U.S. soybeans by genetically-modified corn is not expected to hinder soybean exports, the head of the American Soybean Association said.

The U.S. Agriculture Department confirmed that it was investigating whether a small amount, 500,000 bushels, of conventional soybeans were contaminated by residue from biotech corn that had been genetically engineered to produce pharmaceutical compounds.

Care for some drugs in your cereal? / Crop mix-up angers food industry, environmentalists -- MSNBC.com

How’s the idea of diabetes or diarrhea medicine in your cereal sound? That’s the scenario painted by critics of a biotechnology company that mistakenly allowed its corn, which was genetically altered to help produce pharmaceuticals, to contaminate regular grain crops. The U.S. government is now investigating the company, and the food industry has joined environmentalists on this one, demanding stronger policing if not a move away from producing medicines with crops that are also used for food.

ProdiGene officials could be sent to jail if government finds violations -- AP

Officials at a biotechnology company face a possible one-year jail term if the government finds they broke laws when genetically engineered corn contaminated two soybean crops, the Agriculture Department said Thursday.

The department has been meeting with attorneys for ProdiGene Inc., of College Station, Texas, to discuss possible penalties for the incidents in Iowa and Nebraska, said Cindy Smith, deputy administrator for USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.

ProdiGene: Biotech case worries food industry -- AP

The government's investigation of a biotechnology company has the food industry and environmental groups concerned that the biotech industry cannot be trusted to prevent the food supply from becoming contaminated with plant-made pharmaceuticals.

Groups support biotech crops for industrial development -- AgricultureLaw.com

Food makers urge halt to food crops for medicine -- Reuters

Food crop contaminated by transgenic pharmaceutical corn / Greenpeace calls for ban on 'pharm' crops -- Greenpeace press release

Farmers, researchers say pharmaceutical biotech moratorium will hurt -- AP

Biotech contamination riles activists -- Environmental News Service

Organic Consumers Association and allies file legal petition to prevent further contamination by dangerous GE crops -- Press release

Senate Democrats question USDA procedures on genetic products -- Congress Daily

Prodigene nears deal on quarantined soybeans -- Reuters

BIO statement on ProdiGene Inc. -- Biotechnology Industry Organization press release

November 14

U.S. foodmakers urge ban on food crops for medicine -- Reuters

ProdiGene: Biotech firm mishandled corn in Iowa -- Washington Post