http://cnniw.yellowbrix.com/pages/cnniw/Story.nsp?story_id=14880997&ID =cnniw&scategory=Food ConAgra stops producing corn flour at Kansas mill as precaution against genetically modified grain Source: Associated Press Publication date: 2000-10-17 OMAHA, Neb. (AP) -- ConAgra Foods Inc., one of the nation's biggest food markers, has stopped making corn flour at a Kansas mill because it may have received genetically modified corn that sparked a nationwide recall of some taco shell brands. Tests for the corn variety called Starlink were being conducted and equipment at the plant in Atchison, Kan., was being cleaned, ConAgra spokeswoman Karen Savinski said Tuesday. The mill, ConAgra's only corn flour plant, stopped processing corn on Wednesday. ConAgra told its customers, a variety of food manufacturers, about the potential problem and asked them not to use the corn flour. Savinski declined to name the companies involved. How much corn flour might be involved was not immediately known, and Savinski declined to say how ConAgra found out Starlink may have been delivered to the plant. The Starlink yellow corn contains a bacterium that makes it toxic to insects. Federal officials say the health risk is remote, but it is approved by the Environmental Protection Agency only for use in animal feed. The EPA's scientific advisers have been divided over whether it could cause allergic reactions in people. The nation's largest manufacturer of tortilla products, Mission Foods Co., on Friday recalled all its tortillas, taco shells and snack chips made with yellow corn because the flour might contain Starlink. The move by Mission Foods of Irving, Texas, followed a decision earlier last week by Safeway Inc. to remove all of Mission's taco shells from its stores and an earlier recall of taco shells by Kraft Foods. The corn that was detected in the Kraft and Mission taco shells is believed to have originated at an Azteca Milling plant in Plainview, Texas. Mission Foods is a subsidiary of Gruma SA of Monterrey, Mexico. Azteca Milling is a partnership of Gruma and Archer Daniels Midland Co., based in Decatur, Ill. Mission said it also would switch from yellow to white corn in all its products, and Azteca Milling said it was recalling all its flour made from yellow corn. The EPA said the seed's developer, Aventis CropScience, has agreed to cancel its license to sell the corn. Government officials have said Aventis was supposed to ensure that farmers kept Starlink corn separate from other varieties but failed to do so. Omaha-based ConAgra is nation's second largest food company behind Philip Morris' Kraft Foods, and it is the nation's largest food service manufacturer. It sells products ranging from fertilizer and flour to brand name products like Healthy Choice frozen dinners, Orville Redenbacher popcorn and Butterball turkeys. The Associated Press News Service Copyright 2000 by The Associated Press All Rights Reserved Publication date: 2000-10-17 (c) 2000, YellowBrix, Inc.