Why is the corn approved for animal feed but not for human food?
The EPA concluded that the protein was effective in fighting pests and sufficiently safe for the environment, but the allergenicity question was open and still being studied further. Therefore, EPA approved the corn for use as animal feed but not for human food, and Aventis established a program to work with farmers to keep the corn variety limited to use animal feed. Are such approvals for feed but not food common? As far as I know, it’s the only case. And since it created a situation that invites unintended mixing of corn that’s approved and with corn that is unapproved for food, several organizations, from Kraft to the Biotechnology Industry Organization, have called on the EPA to stop the practice of approving crops for feed but not for food. And such split approvals present an Achilles heel: while farmers may try to keep corn approved only for feed separate from other corn approved for human food, some mixing is likely to happen. Furthermore, biotechnology techniques such as DNA f
