US Assesses Safety Of Unapproved Biotech Rice

The U.S. government is moving to come up with a food safety assessment for an unapproved genetically modified organism that may have been present in the long grain rice market for years, a U.S. Department of Agriculture official said Monday.

The USDA has now banned planting this year of Clearfield CL131 rice, a product of the BASF Corporation (BF), but also instructed farmers and distributors that they are not to use or sell seed produced for 2005, 2006 and 2007.

The FDA is looking into what kind of statement, if any, it can provide on the safety of the rice.