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Food regulators deny health risk from corn

(newswire)
Updated: 2006-08-07 17:50

Food regulators deny public health will be put at risk if genetically modified corn, used in the production of ethanol, is approved for human consumption.

A United States company, Syngenta, wants an acknowledgement that the corn is safe to eat in case it is accidentally mixed with corn intended for food, which is then exported.

The campaign group, GE Free New Zealand, says there is no adequate, independent testing to determine the effects of eating modified corn.

But Lydia Buchtmann from the regulator Food Standards Australia New Zealand, says the organisation is checking the American firm's procedures.

She says food regulators worldwide are encouraging this sort of safety testing of GE products, as a precaution.

Ms Buchtmann says it will only approve the corn if it is safe for human consumption.