Pharming corn contaminates soybeans

Trace quantities of corn plants that were genetically modified to express a pharmaceutical were inadvertently mixed with soybeans that were intended to be distributed for human consumption, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and FDA announced Wednesday. The contamination occurred because ProdiGene (College Station, Texas) violated terms of a government permit and failed to comply with specific instructions from USDA, said USDA spokesperson Jim Rogers. ProdiGene President and CEO Anthony Laos confirmed the accuracy of USDA's allegations.

ProdiGene did not comply with terms of a USDA permit that allowed the company to grow a test plot of a corn genetically engineered to express a non-food protein in 2001. The permit required that ProdiGene monitor and destroy any corn that grew in the plot in 2002. The company failed to do this, according to USDA and ProdigGene. When USDA inspectors found corn growing in the field in 2002, the company did not comply with instructions to destroy the plants, Rogers and Laos said. ...