Investigation fails to locate source of engineered rice in food supply

ST. LOUIS -- Federal regulators could not determine how an experimental strain of biotech rice ended up in the commercial food supply, but an investigation suggests it escaped from a university research laboratory.

A yearlong U.S. Department of Agriculture investigation found that the genetically engineered rice, which was not approved for human consumption, was grown at a corporate-funded laboratory at Louisiana State University alongside commercial strains of rice that were eventually contaminated in the food supply, according to a report released Friday.

It was difficult to determine exactly how the rice escaped in part because researchers sponsored by Bayer CropScience AG did not keep documents like maps or cleaning records, said Cindy Smith, administrator of the Agriculture Department's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service that regulates biotech crop testing.

"One of the fundamental challenges for us is that we were trying to go back in history and recreate what was happening in field tests in 1999, 2000 and 2001," Smith said. Researchers at Louisiana State did not violate the inspection service's policies by not keeping the records, but the agency is now considering a proposal to strengthen its documentation requirements, she said.

Tests in 2006 found that Bayer CropScience's strain of Liberty Link rice made its way into grain elevators in Arkansas and Missouri. European countries restricted imports of U.S. long grain rice after the discovery because Liberty Link had not been approved by regulators.

Several rice farmers are suing Bayer CropScience in federal court, alleging they lost revenue after markets tightened and rice prices dropped. Preliminary test results this year showed no traces of a genetically engineered rice in the U.S. long-grain rice crop, according to a USA Rice Federation study.

The Agriculture Department did not take enforcement action against Bayer in part because of the lack of evidence in the case, according to an agency statement.

Bayer said it was glad no enforcement action was taken.

"USDA also reconfirmed in it's report that 'federal authorities have concluded that LibertyLink rice poses no threat to food safety, human health, or the environment,"' Bayer said in a written statement.

A company spokesman declined further comment.

Steve Linscombe, senior rice breeder at Louisiana State, said researchers follows all federal rules to ensure no experimental crops are released into the environment. He said researches followed the procedures when they bred Liberty Link plants.

"You do everything that you can to minimize something like this occurring, but when you're dealing with a biological system ... you can't really say with certainty what did or did not happen."