U.S. Rice Supply Contaminated

[nosmokes]

buried on page A7 of the sat edition. motherfuckers. no wonder folks don't think this is an issue. and i find secretary johannsreaction an insult at best. a staple of the food supply is contaminated and the best he can do is ssay the company that contaminated says it's safe? do your goddam job.
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original

U.S. Rice Supply Contaminated
Genetically Altered Variety Is Found in Long-Grain Rice

By Rick Weiss
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, August 19, 2006; Page A07

Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns announced late yesterday that U.S. commercial supplies of long-grain rice had become inadvertently contaminated with a genetically engineered variety not approved for human consumption.

Johanns said the company that made the experimental rice, Bayer CropScience of Monheim, Germany, had provided information to the Agriculture Department and the Food and Drug Administration indicating that the rice poses no threats to human health or the environment.


Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns said information provided by Bayer CropScience indicates the altered rice poses no threat to human health or the environment.

"Based upon the information we have seen, this product is safe," he said in a telephone news conference.

Johanns said he did not know where the contaminated rice was found or how widespread it may be in the U.S. food supply. The agency first learned about it from the company, he said, after it discovered "trace amounts" during testing of commercial supplies.

The variety, known as LLRICE 601, is endowed with bacterial DNA that makes rice plants resistant to a weedkiller made by the agricultural giant Aventis.

Johanns said Bayer had not finished the process of getting LLRICE 601 approved for marketing before dropping the project years ago. But the company did complete the process for two other varieties of rice with the same gene. And although neither of those were marketed, he said, their approval offers reassurance that 601 is probably safe, too.
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complete article with links to other blogs here