From: Center for Food Safety [action@foodsafetynow.org]
Sent: Friday, January 19, 2001 12:37 PM
Cc: opp-docket@epa.gov; fdadockets@oc.fda.gov; john.t.turner@usda.gov
Subject: Keep StarLink corn out of our food supply!

EPA Administrator Carol Browner
Public Information and Records Integrity Branch (PIRIB)
Information Resources and Services Division (7502C)
Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP)
Environmental Protection Agency
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20460

RE: Docket No. PF-867B

Dear Ms. Browner,
 
I was very disappointed to learn that the EPA is considering approval of 
 the use of genetically engineered StarLink™ corn in food products!!!! 
Such an action betrays public confidence in the safety of America's food 
supply, and appears to be a decision made to convenience industry at the 
expense of public health.

As you know, EPA's own scientific advisory panels have found in the past 
that StarLink™  corn may contain a potentially allergenic protein (Cry9C). 
 Any new evidence suggesting that the product is now fit for human 
consumption directly contradicts past findings by the Agency. Accordingly, 
I urge you not to approve StarLink™  corn for human consumption. 

Should the EPA make the inappropriate decision approving StarLink™  for 
human consumption, such an action will mean that a potential food allergen 
will be confronting millions of unknowing consumers on a daily basis. The 
presence of the Cry9C protein makes any foods containing it materially 
different from traditionally bred foods and, like the genetic engineering 
of any food, is a “material” fact triggering the legal requirement for 
mandatory labeling. Should approval occur (god forbid), the EPA must work 
with the FDA to ensure that if StarLink™  is contained in their foods, 
consumers have a right to know through mandatory labeling required under 
the Federal Food Drug and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA). 


Sincerely,



Diana di paola
86 longmeadow hill rd
Brookfield, CT, 06804

CC: 
Carol Browner
FDA Commissioner Jane Henney
USDA Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman
Senator Christopher J. Dodd
Senator Joseph I. Lieberman
Representative James H. Maloney

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