Wallstreet Journal

Eek! Attack of the Perfectly Harmless Tacos!
(Summary)

According to the Wall Street Journal (Europe), the FDA standards allow one whole insect, 50 insect fragments, and 2 rodent hairs in every 50 grams of cornmeal (the primary ingredient in taco shells) which is called an "aesthetic" concern by the FDA. Although these are considered minute traces of contaminants, the major risk that remains in our food supply are the living microbes like Salmonella and E.coli which infects nearly one in two Americans at least once.

With these long-known risks in mind, the author questions why the FDA wouldn't impose an "aesthetic" limit on how much "unapproved" GE crop material may get into the food. The publicity is over a single protein called Cry9C which has been on the market for three years and approved for animal feed and ethanol. The original charge made against Kraft comes from John Fagan, an outspoken opponent of biotech who has capitalized on the public's fear by starting his own company that tests for GE varieties in the food supply.

The author also explained that even though GE labeling is inevitable on a global scale, the cost of maintaining a "GMO-free" food channel would fall exclusively on those who care about it. In conclusion, the author believes that there are more valid fears, such as an asteroid crashing into the Earth, than genetically modified fast-food taco shells.