12/5 Brazilian poultry producer fined for feeding GMO corn

 Selected by Pro Farmer Editors

 Agence France-Presse
 December 04, 2000

 RIO DE JANEIRO --Avipal, Brazil's fourth-largest poultry producer, has
 been hit with a 250,000-dollar fine for not warning southern Brazilian consumers that
 the company's laying hens were fed with genetically modified corn, a Brazilian
 consumer safety agency said Monday.

 Laboratory testing of the corn identified the presence of genetically
 modified organisms in the 9,300 tonnes of corn Avipal imported from Argentina,
 said Ben-Hur Rava, director of Rio Grande do Sul's state consumer protection agency.

 Rava said Avipal should have informed its customers that its hens were
 being fed the corn, since its long-term effects on people's health are unknown.

 He added that he hopes the fine will serve as a warning to other companies. Brazil
 has expressed interest in producing genetically modified foods but has been
 stymied in its efforts by environmentalists and consumers.