The grain's developer said Thursday it was uncertain of ever retrieving the entire crop. The corn was not approved for human consumption but some of it was mixed with other grains and sold to food processors. About 9 million bushels, or about 10 percent of this year's crop, have not been accounted for, said officials with Aventis CropScience, which developed the grain. Obviously, we're going to do everything we can to try and track it down. The corn, known as StarLink, was approved only for animal feed or industrial uses because scientists were unsure about its potential to cause allergic reactions.
Federal officials say the health risk is remote.
We're working with Aventis and vigorously attempting to locate the remainder. Aventis has canceled its government license to market the crop and agreed to reimburse the Agriculture Department for the cost of buying up all of this year's harvest. The corn found in taco shells was traced to a single mill in Texas. Aventis has since tracked StarLink to a variety of locations. Among the corn products in grocery stores are taco shells, corn chips, and breakfast cereals.