Mutant Tacos Removed

The politics of genetically engineered (GE) foods is becoming a hot topic in the US.

Kraft Food's taco shells, mistakenly made of genetically engineered corn, were recently recalled from store shelves and Taco Bell restaurants. It was the first mass recall of frankenfood in the US.

The taco shells were manufactured by Adventis, based in France. Spokesmen announced that the GE Starlink seed for the corn crop in question was not supposed to find its way into human food. Traces of DNA from GE corn, not approved for human consumption, were discovered in Taco Bell's licensed products. The corn known as Starlink contains a gene from a bacterium that makes the corn deadly to corn borers, but not to cows. It was approved for use as cattle feed, but not for humans, for fear that it would trigger allergic reactions.