Center for Advanced BioEnergy Research, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

U.S. Approves Corn Modified for Ethanol

The New York Times
By ANDREW POLLACK
Published: February 11, 2011

A type of corn that is genetically engineered to make it easier to convert into ethanol was approved for commercial growing by the Department of Agriculture.

The decision, announced Friday, came in the face of objections from corn millers and others in the food industry, who warned that if the industrial corn cross-pollinated with or were mixed with corn used for food, it could lead to crumbly corn chips, soggy cereal, loaves of bread with soupy centers and corn dogs with inadequate coatings.

“If this corn is comingled with other corn, it will have significant adverse impacts on food product quality and performance,” the North American Millers’ Association said in a statement on Friday.

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