Frito Lay Refusing To Take
Bio-Tech Corn From Growers

PLANO —(AP)— In a move that has angered farm groups but pleased some environmental activists, giant snack maker Frito-Lay Inc. is telling its suppliers not to use genetically altered corn.

The American Farm Bureau Federation, which says biotechnology can produce larger and more nutritious crops, accused Frito-Lay of caving in to anti-biotech activists.

``People like Frito-Lay are responding to small splinter groups out of fear they're going to be boycotted,'' said Joseph Fields, a spokesman for the farm group. ``We feel the companies are overreacting.''

Greenpeace and the Union of Concerned Scientists applauded the decision by Plano-based Frito-Lay, the leading U.S. maker of salty snacks. Greenpeace had lobbied Frito-Lay's parent company, PepsiCo., to stop using biotech crops in its products.

``Frito-Lay is about two-thirds of PepsiCo's sales. They realize the handwriting is on the wall and that people don't want to eat GMOs,'' genetically modified organisms, said Charles Margulis of Greenpeace.

A spokeswoman for Frito-Lay said the company was acting in response to consumers' worries and was not responding to protests by Greenpeace or other groups.

Lynn Markley noted that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has ruled that biotech foods are safe to eat, ``but we're a consumer products company. There is some consumer concern out there. We felt at this time it's appropriate to ask our growers not to sell us genetically altered corn.''

The anti-biotech edict is contained in contracts Frito-Lay is now sending to hundreds of its farmers. Last year, the company bought 1.2 billion pounds of corn, a tiny fraction of the U.S. crop, for products such as Doritos, Fritos and Tostitos chips.

Scientists create biotech crops by splicing the genes of plants and inserting genetic material from other organisms to make the original bigger, hardier or tastier.

Monsanto Co. makes seeds that survive the company's Roundup herbicide, meaning farmers can freely spray their fields knowing they'll kill weeds but not the crop. Biotech corn, called Bt corn, is designed to produce a natural pesticide that kills the European corn borer.

Farm groups argue that genetically altered crops use less pesticide. Critics say any such benefit would be short-lived — that weeds and pests would adapt, in the same way that they develop resistance to herbicides and pesticides, and would require stronger and more environmentally dangerous weapons to kill them.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, more than half the soybeans and cotton and about one-third of the corn grown in the United States last year used gene-spliced seeds. Potatoes and tomatoes are also grown the same way.

Frito-Lay's action follows last summer's announcement by Gerber and Heinz that they would stop using genetically modified ingredients in baby food even though they believe the ingredients are safe.

Opposition to modified foods is much stronger in Europe, and some U.S. farmers plan to cut back on biotech crops because they fear prices will fall if Europe bans the crops. Farm groups are also fighting proposals to label foods containing genetically modified ingredients, fearing that could lower their price.

In response to the ongoing controversy, Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman this month appointed a 38-member committee to advise the government on the development and use of modified crops. Glickman has also asked the National Academy of Sciences to study whether his department is adequately testing genetically engineered crops before approving them.

The issue is also moving into the courts. Backed by environmental activists, six farmers are suing St. Louis-based Monsanto on antitrust grounds in U.S. District Court in Washington. The case is expected to air safety concerns about the process.