Found this on the nightly news, though y'all might be interested, in a sick-to your-stomach sorta way:

The federal government is investigating allegations that a genetically engineered form of corn approved only for animals was used in making Taco Bell tortilla shells sold in supermarkets.

While there are no known reports of injury, this findingby the coalition Genetically Engineered Food Alertis the most serious evidence so far of the potential risk in gene altered food, reports CBS News Correspondent Wyatt Andrews.

The Food and Drug Administration, which is now rushing to test this corn, says it has no reason to believe its unsafe.

But neither the government nor the biotech industry has ever conclusively proven the danger or safety of the corn involved. Produced by Aventis Corp., the corncalled StarLinkwas approved by federal authorities in 1998 only as animal feed.

The coalition is demanding the government order a recall, and says samples of taco shells from Taco Bell restaurants will be tested soon.

Larry Bohlen of Friends of the Earth, a member of the coalition, said, "We're saying the FDA should use their authority and seize the product."

"This is a possible allergen illegally on the market," said Jane Rissler of the Union of Concerned Scientists.

Federal officials called the possibility that the modified corn had been made it into food products "very serious" if confirmed by further testing.

"If there has been a violation of our licensing process, then we would have a very great concern," Stephen Johnson, an assistant administrator for pesticides at the Environmental Protection Agency, told The Washington Post, which broke the story.

"Likewise, we would want to make sure we are completely protecting the public health," he said.

FDA officials say the possible presence of StarLink corn in human food is "unlawful."

While the biotech industry argues that StarLink is safe, the Environmental Protection Agency disagrees, saying "informationindicates that Cry9c exhibits some characteristics of known allergens."

Because the corn has been genetically modified in a way that makes it more difficult to break down in the human gut, federal agencies have refused to approve it for human use.

The taco shells tested were manufactured in Mexico for Taco Bell and were distributed by Kraft Foods Inc. Taco Bell is owned by Tricon Global Restaurants Inc., and Kraft is a unit of Philip Morris Cos.

The Post quoted Michael Mudd, Kraft's vice president for corporate affairs, as saying that the corn was bought by a Texas miller from farmers in six states and that the miller had ordered a conventional form of corn.

"This is a serious issue, and Kraft is doing everything we can to confirm whether or not this material is present in the product," he said. "If it is confirmed, we will immediately take, in consultation with the FDA, all appropriate steps."

But while Kraft foods says it will immediately "investigate and test" for contamination, it will not order an immediate recall.

One reason is that the food industry believes the Iowa lab that did the taco test, Genetic ID, is biased against biotech products.

At least once before, the company came to conclusions about the presence of genetically modified materials that were later proved inaccurate, according to The Washington Post, which broke the story.

Anne Heagert, a spokeswoman for Genetic ID, told CBS News, "We are absolutely confident we found the corn that contains that protein."

While most of the U.S. political, scientific and commercial establishment has embraced biotechnology as safe and useful, activists continue to raise questions about its use and hope to inspire the kind of widespread backlash present in Europe.

If proved true, the Taco Bell finding could be a windfall for those biotech critics.

"We do see it as a warning signal to the American public that there's no adequate system to look out for these genetically engineered ingredients," said Bohlen.

The StarLink corn is genetically modified to contain the plant pesticide Bacillus thuringienis, or Bt, which kills the destructive European corn borer. While there are many varieties of Bt corn now, StarLink is the only one that contains the Cry9C protein, which federal officials have concluded might cause an allergic reaction in some people.

However, some studies indicate that, by all available evidence, StarLink is safe.

In a 1999 memo to the EPA, Aventis admitted "there are currently no validated models for the prediction" of whether a particular food will cause human allergies, which 1 to 2 percent of humans have.

But, Aventis argued, StarLink is probably safe because its source material hasn't been found to cause allergies, mice and poultry fed StarLink corn feed didnt get sick, and "Corn has no known history of food allergy."

Copyright 2000 CBS Worldwide. All Rights Reserved. Reuters Limited Contributed to this report.

-- Soni (thomkilroy@hotmail.com), September 18, 2000

Answers

Horrible. See above post 'Your Gov't loves you'

-- Kathy (catfish@bestweb.net), September 18, 2000.

Oh that is rich..."Corn has no known history of food allergy." HAHAHAHA, I love corpglomerations. Don't you?

-- Doreen (liberty546@hotmail.com), September 18, 2000.

OOOH! That makes me so mad! What can a person do except grow everything they eat? As a matter of fact the corn I grew this year didn't have one corn worm at all. I thought that was amazing. The only thing I did different was put some hay under it from the chicken house.I wander now if it was treated like that stuff was? That's just great! How is a person supposed to know what they are planting? Now the only alternative for me is to get seed I can save and save it to replant. My corn was supposed to be ( peaches and cream) You know every year I just had to cut the top off the corn and go. No big deal cut the part with the worm in it off and eat the rest. Most of the corn was still good. I would much rather do that than use pesticide.

What else do we not know about? Do any of you know of a relaible seed company I can order seed from? Seed that I can save? And what does this stuff do to butterflies?And bees that polinate other stuff in your garden? It would be a sad world without butterflies.

-- Bonnie (josabo1@juno.com), September 19, 2000.

Bonnie, all this messing with our food doesn't help with our chemical problems. It will affect us harder than others and weaken our already weakened immune system. I don't see why it's so hard for "those people" to understand that people are natural beings, and natural ways are best for natural people. Why do they think they can improve on God? I believe that He has put a natuural cure for eveything in the earth. We may ot have found it yet, but it's there. Maybe all of us that really care about life should form our own country. Sorry for the rant.

-- Cindy (atilrthehony_1@yahoo.com), September 19, 2000.

Bonnie, there's a herotage seed company I ordered from in Elizabethtown PA. I will look for my info for everyone. They have a trmendous selection are quick and it's all natural.

-- Doreen (liberty546@hotmail.com), September 19, 2000.

Glad to know we're "one up on em" here at the forum. Now lets come up with our own taco shell recipes. This is like that comercial we get to say "Were better than you are, were not itching and asthmatic from our tacos". Any ideas?

-- Jay Blair (jayblair678@yahoo.com), September 19, 2000.

Here is the Company info for the heritage seeds....Heirloom Seeds

www.heirloomseeds.com Phone 412 384 0852

They have a great variety and were really nice to deal with!

-- Doreen (liberty546@hotmail.com), September 19, 2000.

Did you know that there is corn in milk cartons? How about asprins and vitamins? Lets not forget all the foods sweetened with corn syrup. Corn allergies are the worst because there are so many things that have corn in them that people don't know about. I had a friend who's son had a obvious corn allergy. She moved before I could talk her into believing it. He is now on Ritalin.

-- Dee (gdgtur@goes.com), September 19, 2000.

Sand Hill Preservation Center

Heirloom Seeds and Poultry

1878 230th Street

Calamus, Iowa 52729

Phone: 319-246-2299

PLEASE no Sunday or Monday calls, and no calls after 9:45 p.m.

Sorry, they're not on the web. Call for a catalog.

Over 175 breeds of rare poultry. 700 varieties of heirloom seeds and sweet potatoes.

I know several folks who have ordered/re-ordered from this company. This is a home based business, not a large business, so delivery may/may not be as quick as the big guys. Genetic preservation is their primary goal. They strive to do everything as organically as possible, so they have more loss to insects and other pests than most in this business. This is why they may not always have what you're after.

-- ~Rogo (rogo2020@yahoo.com), September 20, 2000.

I order from a number of different companies, and Sand Hill is definitely my favorite. The owners are Glenn and Linda Drowns. They are good, honest people, which is quite a compliment coming from me, a person who is highly skeptical of all other people.

-- Green (ratdogs10@yahoo.com), September 20, 2000.

Thanks all for the seed company info. I ordered my seed cataloges from them both yesterday. I am on the mailing list. I personally would rather have a seed or chicken cataloge than most magazines I see in the store. Thanks again!

-- Bonnie (josabo1@juno.com), September 21, 2000.

Heard today that Kraft is pulling the shells until they can ascertain that there is no more of the offending corn in the meal that they are made of. We'll see if any more instances pop up around the shelves. I'm betting that there will be plenty more before it's over; even more reason to buy organinc if you don't grow your own.

-- Soni (thomkilroy@hotmail.com), September 22, 2000.