GE corn damage triggers lawsuit

CHICAGO - A class-action lawsuit has been filed against the United States unit of European pharmaceutical giant Aventis for damage caused in export markets by its genetically engineered corn.

The suit blames StarLink corn - which is not approved for human consumption but has turned up in the US food chain - for depressing corn prices, causing losses to farmers.

An independent panel of scientists told the US Government yesterday that StarLink corn might also have triggered allergic reactions in up to 14 Americans.

The law firm Cohen Milstein Hausfeld and Toll filed the suit in the US District Court in East St Louis, Illinois, last week.

Lawyer Elizabeth Cronise said damages through lost export markets were estimated at millions of dollars. The suit sought to represent farmers who did not plant StarLink corn but had been adversely affected by the variety that was not approved for food use.

StarLink corn had been found mingled with vast amounts of other corn, causing farmers and grain handlers losses because such corn could only be sold cheaply as animal feed.

Traces of StarLink corn had also been detected in food in Japan, leading to a fall in imports from the top importer of US corn.

- REUTERS

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