The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) may soon clear the way for widespread adoption of a genetically engineered corn that could potentially threaten human health, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS).
USDA recently closed the public comment period for its proposal to permit-for the first time-widespread cultivation of a corn variant engineered for biofuel production.
If authorized, the genetically engineered ethanol corn is likely to be planted on millions of acres annually. Grown at such an enormous scale, the ethanol corn would inevitably contaminate corn intended for the food and feed supply.
As a result, people would be exposd to new, engineered proteins that may pose an allergy risk, the UCS said in a release.
Last November, the USDA announced its preliminary decision to grant nonregulated status to Syngenta Company’s (NYSE: SYT) genetically engineered ethanol corn and invited public comment on both the decision and the draft environmental assessment that details the agency’s reasons for its decision. After reviewing those comments, the USDA will decide whether to deregulate the new industrial crop. Deregulation would mean that the product would no longer be subject to USDA oversight and could be grown without any restrictions at any scale in the United States.
Syngenta, a giant, multi-national pesticide company, developed the ethanol corn to reduce the costs of producing ethanol from corn kernels. By engineering the crop to contain a new protein–discovered in deep ocean vents–that breaks down corn starch under the high temperature phase of ethanol production, the company expects its new product to supplant the current method of using proteins derived from microbes. The genetic engineering process ensures that most of the novel protein is produced at relatively high levels in the corn kernel.
If grown at the scale Syngenta intends, the new corn would certainly contaminate the food supply, according to UCS scientists. As a result, people would wind up consuming these new proteins, which have never been in food. In fact, except for a small cadre of scientists, human beings have never encountered them. Absent this history of human exposure, scientists are uncertain if these new proteins will produce allergic reactions.
In comments submitted to the USDA, the UCS called on the agency to ban the outdoor production of ethanol corn and all other food crops engineered for industrial or drug purposes to protect the food supply.
Additionally, UCS supports moving beyond corn-engineered or not-as a biofuel source because it may contribute to, rather than reduce, global warming pollution and because alternative sources can be obtained in a more responsible and sustainable manner, the group said.
Absent a ban, UCS urged the agency not to move ahead with a decision regarding Syngenta’s product until newly appointed officials are in place and have had an opportunity to review the ethanol corn request and broader biotechnology regulations.
Trade groups and companies involved in milling, refining, and exporting corn, including the Corn Refiners Association, National Grain and Feed Association, North American Export Grain Association, and North American Millers’ Association, also opposed USDA approval of this engineered corn, citing concerns that its engineered protein could damage food products such as breakfast cereals and snack foods and disrupt exports of such products.
In a related matter, just before inauguration day, the USDA-at the request of UCS and others-extended the comment period for a controversial rule that would substantially weaken oversight of all engineered crops, including pharmaceutical and industrial crops.
In Related News…
Up to a quarter of global food production could be lost by 2050 due to the combined impact of climate change, land degradation and loss, water scarcity and species infestation, the United Nations said on Tuesday.
Read the full Reuters report at the link below.
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