2005-04-21
Union of Concerned Scientists
Contents:
1. Pharmaceutical-producing rice in Missouri 2. Antibiotics bill reintroduced in Congress 3. Europe’s reaction to Syngenta contamination incident 4. Tillamook Cheese to end use of rGBH 5. Antibiotic-free chicken has fewer resistant bacteria 6. Source for organic seeds
1) The battle over genetically engineered rice in Missouri rages on
Anheuser-Busch has relented on its threatened boycott of Missouri rice, provided that genetically engineered pharmaceutical-producing rice is grown more than 120 miles away from commercial food rice varieties. The boycott by Anheuser-Busch, the nation’s largest rice purchaser, could have blocked plans to grow the pharmaceutical rice. The rice was developed by Ventria Bioscience, a biotechnology company, to produce the human proteins lysozyme and lactoferrin, and is not approved for human consumption. The United States Department of Agriculture must still approve Ventria’s application to plant 200 acres of engineered rice, and will have to prepare a new environmental assessment if Ventria moves the site to meet the 120-mile restriction. Most Missouri rice growers, rice producer organizations, and Riceland Foods, the world’s largest rice miller and marketer, oppose the planting. Missouri’s governor, the Missouri Farm Bureau, and some growers support it, and Northwest Missouri State University is a partner in the enterprise. To learn more, read the Associated Press article.
2) Congressional leaders fight to preserve antibiotics
Senators Olympia Snowe (R-ME) and Edward Kennedy (D-MA) reintroduced the Preservation of Antibiotics for Medical Treatment Act (PAMTA) in early April. Representative Sherrod Brown (D-OH) is expected to reintroduce the House version of the bill soon. PAMTA would phase out the non-therapeutic use in livestock of seven classes of antibiotics that are critically important in human medicine, and would require drug manufacturers to report the quantities of medically important antibiotics they sell for use in animal agriculture. It would not ban the use of antibiotics for sick animals or for non-routine disease prevention. Read the bill (S. 742) (pdf).
3) Europe bans U.S. animal feed due to Syngenta contamination incident
The European Union voted to ban U.S. animal feed containing corn gluten unless proof is provided that it does not contain unapproved varieties of genetically modified corn. The ban could cost the United States up to $450 million a year in lost revenues. The April 15th decision followed the announcement by Syngenta, a Swiss biotechnology company, that it had inadvertently sold 146,000 tons of seed of an unapproved variety of engineered corn to U.S. farmers over the past four years. The corn was planted on about 37,000 acres in the United States. The variety, named Bt10, is similar to an approved variety, Bt11, but it contains a gene for resistance to the antibiotic ampicillin. Syngenta told regulatory agencies about its mistake last December; however, the news became public only when the journal Nature published an article in March.
Nature article
Followup Nature article
European Union’s decision
4) Oregon creamery foregoes milk from cows raised with growth hormone
The Tillamook County Creamery Association, a dairy cooperative in Oregon, decided in February to purchase milk only from farmers who certified that their cows were not treated with the genetically engineered growth hormone rBST (also called rBGH). Biotechnology giant Monsanto pressured the co-op board to reverse course, but in a 2:1 vote the board upheld its original decision. Suppliers of milk to Tillamook have signed agreements not to use rBST, and suppliers of yogurt, cream, and other dairy products are working out similar agreements. Read the Tillamook press release.
5) Fewer resistant bacteria on antibiotic-free chicken products
Tests of retail chicken products found fluoroquinolone-resistant Campylobacter bacteria on only 13 percent of Bell & Evans and 5 percent of Eberly chicken products (two antibiotic-free producers), versus 96 percent of Tysons Foods and 43 percent of Perdue Farms chicken products (two conventional brands). Bell & Evans chicken was significantly less likely to carry any Campylobacter than the other three brands. The tests were conducted a year after the two conventional poultry producers said they had stopped using fluoroquinolone antibiotics for routine growth promotion. Read the research article (pdf).
6) Organic growers in the southeast have a source for certified organic seed
The Georgia-based Save Our Seed Project will provide free lists of certified organic seed sources in the southeastern United States to organic growers in the region. The organization offers a series of educational workshops on seed saving and provides individual technical assistance to growers. Its long-term goal is to maintain organic and open-pollinated heirloom varieties that are adapted to the growing conditions of the southeast. To learn more, visit http://www.savingourseed.org.
