WASHINGTON (AP) - A variety of gene-altered corn shows a ''medium likelihood'' of causing allergic reactions, but so little is in the food supply that consumers are unlikely to have developed sensitivities to it, a panel of scientists told the government Tuesday.
The panel that advises the Environmental Protection Agency said more research on the biotech corn is needed and urged the government to find out whether the corn was the cause of allergic reactions that have been reported to the Food and Drug Administration.
StarLink corn was withdrawn from the market after its discovery in the food supply in September spawned nationwide recalls of taco shells.
The EPA is deciding whether to grant temporary food-use approval for the corn to prevent further recalls and disruptions in food processing and grain handling. The panel's report virtually ensured that the decision won't come for at least several weeks.
The agency ''will continue its evaluation of the scientific information, and develop the appropriate regulatory approach in response to the StarLink situation to ensure protection of public health and continued consumer confidence in the safety and integrity of the food supply,'' said Stephen Johnson, EPA's deputy assistant administrator.
EPA regulates use of the biotech corn because it was genetically modified to produce its own pesticide.
EPA had approved the corn only for animal feed and industrial uses because of unresolved questions about whether it can cause allergic reactions. The corn's developer, Aventis CropScience, has asked the EPA to temporarily approve the corn for food use to avoid further recalls.
Aventis, which says it doesn't believe the corn is an allergen, declined comment on the report.
Some 34 people have contacted the government this fall with health complaints that they thought might be caused by StarLink. Of those, 7 to 14 merit further study because they appear to involve allergic reactions of some kind and ''represent a real opportunity'' to determine whether StarLink is an allergen, the panel said.
The scientists said there is a ''low probability'' that people have developed allergies to the corn ''because of the apparent low level'' of the corn entering the human diet. However, the pesticidal protein in the corn, Cry9C, has several characteristics of allergens, including its molecular weight and its relative resistance to heat and gastric juices.
Critics of the biotech industry have urged EPA to deny the food-use approval, saying it would unfairly relieve Aventis of financial and legal responsibility for the corn.
''It looks like science is going to win out over expediency,'' said Rebecca Goldburg, a scientist with Environmental Defense, an advocacy group.
''It would be inappropriate to leap to retroactively approve StarLink corn for the convenience of Aventis. Clearly a much better course is to develop the proper methodology and information in order to make a real determination about the safety.''
The StarLink problem has become an embarrassment to the biotech industry and a headache for farmers, grain handlers and food processors.
EPA already knows enough about the corn to grant food-use approval, or temporary tolerance, for the StarLink that has gotten into the food supply, said Lisa Dry, a spokeswoman for the Biotechnology Industry Organization. ''We do believe there is enough data there to be confident that there is no health issue,'' she said.
Gene Grabowski, a spokesman for the Grocery Manufacturers of America, said the food industry wants EPA to make ''an expeditious and appropriate'' decision on StarLink ''so that consumers can be once again assured that the food supply is safe.''
A group of farmers filed suit against Aventis last week in Illinois federal court, claiming that the company failed to warn growers adequately of restrictions on use of the corn. Farmers have said they were unaware that it could not be sold for food use.
''We've been getting reports from a number of farmers across the country who are having extraordinary difficulty selling their corn crops,'' said attorney Elizabeth Cronise.
StarLink was grown on about 0.4 percent of the nation's corn acreage this year.
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On the Net:
Aventis site: http://www.starlinkcorn.com
Report by EPA's scientific advisory panel: http://www.epa.gov/scipoly/sap
FDA site: http://www.fda.gov