US for easier GM corn

US' Agriculture Department is moving to make it easier to grow genetically engineered corn for ethanol production.

 

The agency is seeking public comments on a request to deregulate corn that is designed to produce a special enzyme, making it easier to convert into ethanol.

 

In its draft environmental assessment released earlier this month, the department's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service concluded that the corn, developed by Syngenta Seeds Inc., is safe.

 

"The scientific evidence indicates that there are unlikely to be any environmental, human health or food safety concerns associated with the GE corn," the agency said in a written statement.

 

Bill Freese, science policy analyst at the Washington-based Centre for Food Safety, says the alpha-amylase gene inserted into the corn could trigger allergies in people exposed to the crop.

 

"They intend it to be used just for ethanol, but it's also going to end up in the food supply," Freese said. "This is the first crop proposed for industrial use, and in a widely used food crop, we need to be extremely cautious."

 

By products of ethanol include distiller grains, a protein rich food which is used in feedstock. Ethanol is also used as a base chemical for other organic compounds in feedstock.

 

The department will review any comments submitted by the Jan 20, 2009, deadline to determine whether its safety assessment should change.

 

Demand for biofuels like ethanol is soaring because of federal mandates requiring the United States to use 9 billion gallons of alternative fuel annually by 2009. The mandates have also been criticized by groups like the Grocery Manufacturers Association, who blame the use of crops for ethanol production for rising food prices.

 

About 30 percent of the nation's corn crop goes to ethanol production.