FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 13, 2002

Contacts:
Mark Helm, 202.783.7400 x102
Matt Rand, 202-887-8841

Reckless USDA Policy Fails to Keep Biopharmaceuticals out of Food Supply
Coalition Calls on the USDA for Contamination Information Including Name of Drug or Chemical Being Withheld

Washington— Last night the U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) revealed that 500,000 bushels of soybeans destined for human consumption have been quarantined due to contamination by a corn crop genetically engineered to produce a pharmaceutical or industrial chemical. The USDA has refused to reveal what chemical or drug was grown in the biopharmaceutical corn, or divulge the exact location where the contaminated food crop is being held. Perhaps most disturbing is the fact that the USDA was unable to ensure a 100 percent containment of the contaminated crop, or offer specifics on this gross failure of their regulatory system.

“We warned the USDA earlier this year this was going to happen. If the USDA continues to allow biopharm food crops to be planted, someone is going to get prescription drugs or industrial chemicals in their corn flakes,” said Larry Bohlen, Friends of the Earth’s Director of Health and Environment Programs.

“The public has the right to know what’s going on. There is a genetically engineered pharmaceutical or industrial chemical that mistakenly entered into the grain supply only one stop away from getting into our food and the government isn’t talking,” stated Matt Rand, Biotechnology Campaign Manager, for the National Environmental Trust.

In a letter sent today, Friends of the Earth demanded that the USDA disclose specific information concerning the biocontamination, including:

· The name of the genetically engineered drug or chemical

· Detailed information on how the contamination occurred

· Information on potential human health impacts the drug or chemical could cause

· Confinement information

· The application and contingency plan from ProdiGene—the company that produced the crop

· Extensiveness of contamination

· Records of the USDA inspections

In the wake of this latest failure to properly protect the food supply, the Genetically Engineered Food Alert coalition is once again calling on the USDA to prohibit open-air cultivation of all crops genetically engineered with biopharmaceuticals (such as vaccines), industrial chemicals or other substances with potential human health impacts

Biotechnology companies have conducted over 300 field trials across the country since 1991. It is probable that contamination of the U.S. food supply with genetically engineered pharmaceuticals has already occurred – we have no way of knowing due to the extreme degree of secrecy surrounding the locations of biopharm field trials and the nature of the drugs and chemicals they are engineered to produce.

The GEFoodAlert is a coalition of health, consumer and environmental groups that supports the removal of genetically engineered ingredients from grocery store shelves unless they are adequately safety tested and labeled. For a comprehensive report on biopharm and to read our letters to the USDA, see www.foe.org/biopharm/