Environmental Defense Praises Kraft Recall Of Biotech Taco Shells

Environmental Defense today praised Kraft Foods for recalling taco shells containing corn genetically engineered to produce a pesticide not approved by for use in human food. Environmental Defense urged the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in March not to approve the pesticide for use in human food because the substance may case allergic reactions.

“No one wants unapproved pesticides in their food,” said Dr. Rebecca Goldburg, senior scientist at Environmental Defense. “Kraft’s tacos contain the ‘Cry9C’ toxin from bacteria. The biochemical characteristics of this toxin indicate that it may be an allergen, and EPA has restricted corn genetically engineered to contain the toxin animal feed and industrial uses. Kraft did the right thing by removing from supermarket shelves taco shells containing the toxin.”

“This unfortunate situation demonstrates that consumers are not being protected by the federal agencies assigned this critical responsibility,” said Goldburg. “Tests by a private testing firm and by Kraft detected the Cry9C toxin in food. Neither the EPA nor the Food and Drug Administration had even developed a test to look for illegal sales of Cry9C corn for human food. Yet, corn is a commodity crop, and corn from many farms is often mixed together at grain elevators. Finding contamination is distressing, but it is not a surprise.”

Environmental Defense has also criticized the Food and Drug Administration’s failure to establish testing procedures for potential allergens in genetically engineered foods.

“The federal government is rushing genetically engineered products to market without adequate consumer protection,” said Goldburg. “The interests of biotechnology companies are being placed ahead of consumers.”