Corn Near Gene-Altered Site to Be Destroyed
WASHINGTON, Nov. 13 (Bloomberg News) Federal regulators said today that they had ordered the destruction of an Iowa cornfield surrounding a test site for gene-altered crops.
The incident involving ProdiGene Inc. is the second in two days in which regulators said there was a risk of gene-altered crops contaminating the food supply. On Tuesday, regulators quarantined a Nebraska grain elevator after finding stalks and leaves from ProdiGene’s gene-altered corn mixed with soybeans. That batch will also be destroyed.
The Agriculture Department said it and the Food and Drug Administration were investigating ProdiGene of College Station, Tex.
ProdiGene’s chief executive, Anthony G. Laos, did not return telephone calls. Liz Eickenhorst, an aide to Mr. Laos, declined to comment. She referred to a statement issued on Tuesday that said ProdiGene is working “to address compliance challenges.”
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Posted by: Paul on November 14, 2002 at 11:40:12