CONTAMINATED CORN DUMPED ON EPA
 Greenpeace demands that agency deny approval of StarLink corn  due to
 allergy threat.
 
 SAN FRANCISCO, November 16, 2000 - Greenpeace activists today dumped two
 tons of StarLink-contaminated corn in front of the Environmental
 Protection Agency's local headquarters. The activists, wearing biohazard
 suits, demanded that the agency deny approval of the gene-altered corn for
 human consumption, as requested by the corn's producer, Aventis, due to
 scientific  concerns about potential health risks.
 
 EPA has refused to approve the animal feed corn for human  consumption due
 to its potential to cause food allergies. The corn has widely contaminated
 the U.S. food supply, resulting in the recall of nearly 300 food products.
 Costs to Aventis from the recall are estimated to approach $1 billion
 dollars. To forestall further losses, the company is now seeking temporary
 approval of the feed corn for human consumption.
 
 "The EPA must not risk public health to protect corporate profits,"  said
 Kimberley Wilson, Greenpeace genetic engineering campaigner. "By approving
 StarLink, EPA would be rewarding the company for unlawfully contaminating
 the nation's food supply."
 
 StarLink corn produces an insecticidal protein called Cry9C that could
 cause dangerous allergic reactions in some people. The  EPA's review of
 StarLink found that many of the allergenicity data submitted on StarLink
 were "either inconclusive or indicate that Cry9C exhibits some
 characteristics of known allergens." In  October, an EPA advisory panel
 heard from scientists who warned that there is no known safe level of
 allergens in food. 
 
 "For two years, EPA has refused to approve StarLink because scientists say
 the genetically engineered corn could cause dangerous allergies," added
 Wilson. "But now that the industry is facing hundreds of millions of
 dollars in losses, the agency says they will make a decision in less than
 two months."
 
 The Greenpeace activists were joined outside EPA by members of the Organic
 Consumers Association, Pesticide Action Network, the Ecology Center, the
 San Francisco Chapter of the National  Organization of Women and the Ruckus
 Society, demanding that the EPA protect the food supply from StarLink corn.
 
 "EPA's own scientific advisors say they don't know if this corn is safe
 for people," said Simon Harris of the Organic Consumers Association. "The
 health of Americans should not be put at risk simply for the convenience
 of the biotech industry."
 
 On November 28, EPA will hear from a Scientific Advisory panel that will
 present its findings by December 1. EPA is expected to rule shortly after
 that.
 
 Photos and video footage available upon request
 
 For more info visit www.greenpeaceusa.org and
 www.truefoodnow.org   -    
 
 Our photos should be up by tomorrow morning.
 all the best
 Beverley Thorpe
 --------------------------------
 
 
 Beverley Thorpe Genetic Engineering Campaign Greenpeace USA 702 H Street
 NW, Suite 300 Washington, DC 20001 tel:  1 202 319 2412 fax:  1 202 884
 7609 email:  Beverley.Thorpe@dialb.greenpeace.org www.greenpeaceusa.org