Groups Fear Approval of GM Corn Could Lead to Soggy Corn Chips, Cereal

The USDA has approved a type of corn that is genetically engineered to make it easier to convert to ethanol, the February 11th New York Times reports. The approval was given over the objections of food industry groups, which fear that it could lead to crumbly corn chips, soggy cereal, loaves of bread with soupy centers, and other such goods. That is because that corn, known as Enogen, has an enzyme that breaks down corn starch into sugar. The USDA has found that it meets their statutory requirements while the FDA has found that the corn is safe to eat.

Syngenta, the company that will make it, says that the corn in question will only be grown near ethanol plants and that farmers who grow it will be under contract and have incentives to only sell their corn to that particular plant. However, the concern is that the corn in question will spread and contaminate other corn, which could affect the quality of food that we purchase at the grocery store. These concerns about Genetically Modified crops have been raised all over the world.

Gas prices have gone up to $3 per gallon this year after having been at around $2.50 per gallon for a long time. Some fear that gas prices will go up as high as $4 this year. Therefore, the justification for approval of products like Enogen is that it is necessary in order to wean this country from dependence on foreign oil and to decrease demand for oil, thereby bringing down gas prices again.