© 2001 Wendy Dager

This season, many farmers can expect to have an unwanted crop-a.k.a. a "volunteer"-pervade their pristine fields of corn. It's the StarLink variety, a bioengineered corn that contains Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) proteins, also known as Cry9C.

StarLink Bt was developed by Aventis CropScience for control of the European and Southwestern corn borers, and the suppression of the black cut worm and the corn stalk borer. It is approved only for animal feed and industrial uses-in the United States. Other countries have much more stringent safety assessments for bioengineered crops and have not yet approved the planting of StarLink corn. In fact, Japan and South Korea, major purchasers of U.S. exports, have indicated they will not buy corn grown in the U.S. unless they are assured it is StarLink-free. The United States Environmental Protecton Agency, which approved the planting of StarLink in 1998, did not give the go-ahead for its use in food consumed by humans because there was some worry that the Cry9C protein would cause allergic reactions in people who are susceptible to food allergens (see StarLink from this issue of the LEAF-let).

Yet, StarLink corn has made its way into the food supply-the most publicized case being the furor over tainted Taco Bell tortillas. The problem, however, is widespread: more than 300 types of U.S. foods were recalled last year because of StarLink contamination. How could this have happened?

According to Agriculture Online, the risk of cornfield contamination by the StarLink variety can result from pollen drift-meaning "volunteer" corn is carried by the wind, and deposited in fields meant only for regular varieties of corn.

Volunteer corn is not a new problem. In June of 1998, the Cooperative Extension Service of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign issued herbicide options for control of volunteer corn in soybean crops. While that particular occurrence of volunteer corn was not StarLink, soybeans are, interestingly, a key element in the prevention of StarLink contamination. Nebraska agronomist Alex Martin suggests that farmers plant soybeans where volunteer StarLink might grow. According to Martin, corn is easily detected in soybean crops and can be controlled by herbicides.

StarLink's maker, however, has another idea.

Instead of putting tighter controls on volunteer corn fields-as well as in grain elevators that are not properly cleared of StarLink prior to transporting other types of corn-Aventis has asked the Bush administration to allow some StarLink residue to occur in food products. According to EPA documents, Aventis claims there should be a "tolerance level" of 20 parts per billion for StarLink at corn mills for food processing.

Aventis said that if their solution is not accepted, there will be an "ongoing disruption in the domestic and international food markets-in the form of recalls and rejections of exported products."

This statement comes on the heels of a class-action lawsuit by American farmers who say they have suffered financial losses from the cross-pollination of StarLink corn with other varieties.

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