Between The Lines: The News World Disorder Online Art/chive

Consumers shell-shocked in search for root of killer corn connection by Victor Payan
Pocho Frankenfood Critic WASHINGTON - Consumer groups are aghast with news that a questionable strain of genetically- engineered corn may have ended up in taco shells produced for Taco Bell. The corn, which carries a gene designed to kill insects if eaten, has been approved as feed for animals but not humans. Scientists suspect the human body will not be able to digest a key protein in this killer corn. "It could cause digestive problems, cramping, spasms, allergic reactions and even night blindness," said Coronel Ben Enoso of the FDA's Genetic Corn Division. "Unfortunately, this makes it pretty hard to distinguish from other Taco Bell food." News of the taco shell shock has angered anti-Frankenfood activists around the world, who see this as part of a plan to sneak genetically-engineered foods into the global digestive system. "They're pushing this monster maize down our throats," says Barry Aguitado, spokesman for the Tortilla Liberation Front, "so corporations can control the world food supply. Then, they'll have us by the niblets." Another anti-GE group, who call themselves Children of the Corn, recently destroyed genetically- engineered crops in greenhouses at UCSD. "They were developing a strain of hominy that will be ineffective against the crudo," says Dusty Bushels, a member of the group. "We had to stop them in the name of all that is holy." Aguitado and others accuse multinational corporations of putting profits before public health when it comes to introducing genetically-engineered foods into the human diet. "This is just not true," says Professor Gene Fregadera of Buscalana Laboratories. "We test all our products thoroughly using SIM City and on Furbys. On paper, they're perfectly safe." But critics are not convinced and remain untrustful of the unseen hand of science. This latest biotech food mishap, for example, falls on the heels of another case in Michigan where Cheerios were produced with a shipment of pet-food-grade oats which were genetically engineered to teach dogs to play poker. Independent studies have also concluded that GE crops are responsible for the recent massive die- offs of Monarch butterflies as they make their annual migratory run for the border, thus disrupting the pollenation cycle in two countries. "Corporations need to stop playing with our food and keep their hands out of our genes," says Peter E. Dische, author of the groundbreaking book "Our Bodies, Our Cells." "The use of genetic engineering, growth hormones and improper megafarm techniques have also created such public health disasters as Mad Cow Disease and new poultry epidemics such as Daffy Duck Disorder and the Silly Goose Syndrome," added Dische. The debate over the use of genetically-engineered food products has raged for years, with consumers around the world fighting powerful multinational corporations like Monsanto, maker of the superherbicide Roundup as well as self-sterilizing crops and disturbing creatures such as the boneless chicken. In Texas, Governor George W. Bush recently approved widespread implementation of Monsanto's untested new varmint superpesticide, Rattlesnake Roundup. But the question remains as to how a potentially dangerous corn strain ended up in something as basic as taco shells. "The main problem here is not trying to figure out how Frankenfoods get into the food supply," says Aguitado. "The problem is figuring a way to get them out. Until then, we should all just drop the chalupa." © 2000 Victor Payan

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