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To: T L Comiskey who wrote (3172)	9/22/2000 6:42:26 PM
From: T L Comiskey	Respond to of 65232

Run for the border Somehow.... Knowing about Taco Bell's Parent Company's ownership...make me want to upchuck a Chalupa........ hold the tobacco sauce Taco Bell to Replace Restaurant Taco Shells CHICAGO (Reuters) - Philip Morris Cos.' (MO.N) Kraft Foods unit said on Friday it is voluntarily recalling all Taco Bell Home Originals taco shells sold in U.S. grocery stores nationwide because samples contained an unapproved variety of gene-modified corn. Tests performed by an independent laboratory found, in certain samples, the presence of a variety of gene-modified corn that Kraft had not specified for the product and which is not approved by U.S. regulators for use in food, Kraft said. The recall is the first of a U.S. food product containing a gene-modified ingredient not approved for human consumption, said Dave Schmidt, senior vice president for food safety at the International Food Information Council. ``It is basically a violation of the regulatory status. That type of corn should not have shown up in a food product,'' he said. Kraft stressed that there appears to be no evidence of adverse health effects from the corn variety, known as StarLink. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said earlier this week they were jointly investigating allegations by an anti-biotech coalition that a variety of unapproved gene-spliced corn had slipped into Taco Bell shells sold in a Maryland grocery store. The products being recalled are: Taco Bell Home Originals 12 Taco Shells, Taco Bell Home Originals 18 Taco Shells and Taco Bell Home Originals Taco Dinner containing 12 shells, sauce and seasoning. Consumers who have purchased the products should not eat them, and should return the packages to the store where they were purchased for a full refund, Kraft said. More information is available in a special report at kraftfoods.com, or consumers may call 1-800-433-9361 from 8 a.m. to midnight EDT. The corn variety was developed by Aventis SA (AVEP.PA) of Strasbourg, France. It was approved in the United States in 1998 for use only in animal feed because it contains a protein that might be an allergen. Gene-modified corn is spliced with a naturally occurring plant pesticide known as bacillus thuringiensis. Aventis had sought EPA approval for the corn as a food ingredient, but an advisory committee earlier this year postponed a decision on the request, citing inconclusive safety data, Schmidt said. While there is an uproar in Europe over genetically modified ingredients in food, until now American companies had mostly avoided controversy and U.S. consumers seemed content that foods were safe. Kraft's willingness to incur the expense of a recall despite no evidence the product is unsafe demonstrates U.S. companies are becoming increasingly sensitive to consumers' heightened awareness about food safety, said food industry consultant Willard Bishop. ``This shows the tremendous focus on food safety that has obviously become a political issue,'' he said. Shares of Philip Morris closed $1-1/8 higher at $27-11/16 on the New York Stock Exchange. Kraft is licensed by Taco Bell to use the name on taco shells sold only in supermarkets. Kraft buys finished taco shells for the Taco Bell line from Sabritas Mexicali, a subsidiary of PepsiCo Inc. (PEP.N) in Mexicali, Mexico. Sabritas buys corn flour for the product from Azteca Milling L.P., which processes the flour in its Plainview, Texas, mill, Kraft said. Kraft added the crops were grown within a 100-mile radius around the Texas mill. The specifications for the corn Azteca purchased for the taco shells were confined to several varieties of conventional yellow corn and did not include the StarLink corn, Kraft said. Kraft said it is cooperating with FDA to determine how the StarLink corn became mixed with the product ingredients. The company will discontinue production of the taco shells until it is assured the raw materials and finished products from the suppliers comply with regulatory requirements.