BASF Contaminated Rice Is Safe, GMO Still Unapproved

The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Thursday that it has identified the unapproved genetically modified organism that contaminated long grain rice seed produced by BASF Corp. (BF), and pronounced the rice safe for human consumption.

BASF's Clearfield 131 rice seeds - developed as a non-biotech variety - were at some point contaminated with experimental seeds produced by Bayer CropScience, a division of Bayer AG (BAY), the USDA said Thursday, confirming initial findings published on March 5 by BASF.

The USDA said Thursday that the BASF seed was contaminated with genetic material from Bayer'sLiberty Link 604 rice. Bayer has had some of its Liberty Link biotech Liberty Link approved, but not the 604.