No Allergic Reactions Attributed to StarLink Corn Says Centers for Disease Control

WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 13, 2001) – Val Giddings, vice president for food and agriculture of the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) issued the following statement today on the release of information by the Centers for Disease Control regarding StarLink corn: “We are very pleased, but not surprised that the data released today by the Centers for Disease Control are consistent with the mass of data we already had, showing the safety of StarLink corn. This news should be reassuring to consumers and our export partners who have had questions regarding the corn’s safety.

“The data are compelling and should be instrumental in providing the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) the final piece of necessary information to support granting Aventis’ request to set a tolerance level for any minute amount of cry9c that may be found in the food chain.”

BIO represents more than 950 biotechnology companies, academic institutions, state biotechnology centers and related organizations in all 50 U.S. states and more than 33 other nations. BIO members are involved in the research and development of health care, agricultural, industrial and environmental biotechnology products.

www.cast-science.org “Backgrounder: FDA-CDC Blood Serum Testing Methodologies” prepared by CAST, the Council for Agricultural Science and Technology.

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