FDA Recommends Cry9C TestingFDA Recommends Cry9C Testing

WASHINGTON--Following the StarLink contamination of yellow corn flour products, the U.S. government decided that it is better to be proactive rather than reactive. In a letter to corn millers and corn food products manufacturers, Janice Oliver--deputy director of the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN)--stated that in order to keep the Cry9C protein out of the future food supply, it is better to intervene at the corn milling level rather than the finished product level.

In the guidance, FDA recommended that dry milling and masa operations test 2,400 kernels from incoming yellow corn shipments using validated immunoassay methods. Those lots that test positive for the Cry9C protein should be redirected to animal feed or industrial uses. Also, FDA recommended that milling companies should adequately train and supervise personnel on how to use the test.

FDA, realizing that some dry milling and masa operations may have grain inventories that have not been tested, recommended that this sampling guidance be phased in over a period of 30 days beginning Dec. 27, 2000.

This guidance and other reference materials are posted at http://vm.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/starguid.html#guid.