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These events led critics to ask the questions raised in any political scandal: What did Aventis and the EPA know, and when did they know it? Reports soon trickled out that both company and government officials knew—perhaps as early as 1997 and certainly by 1998—that StarLink was commingled with conventional corn. At a meeting late in 2000, I heard an official of the EPA say—unfortunately not for direct quotation—that Aventis had worked hard to lobby the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, the State Department, and the FDA, USDA, and EPA during the months prior to the taco shell disclosure in an effort to convince federal officials that StarLink was not going to cause safety problems. Because Aventis officials acted as if StarLink were demonstrably safe, they were vulnerable to criticism from consumer groups like Friends of the Earth: “Aventis can’t possibly have enough information to conclude that StarLink is safe at any level in our food.”10

Other companies in the StarLink chain joined Aventis in further denial and blame. Officials of Garst Seed said that farmers knew they were supposed to separate StarLink from other corn, and “it’s unfortunate some customers say they weren’t informed about the program. . . . But we worked hard to get that message out.”11 Farmers, however, denied they had been told to segregate StarLink and filed lawsuits for damages. Operators of grain elevators also denied hearing anything about the need for crop segregation, and at least half of them had forwarded commingled corn for unapproved uses. Overall, the various companies in the chain of production and distribution assumed that their customers would not much care about this issue. As an analyst for J. P. Morgan explained, “If you’re eating at Taco Bell, health consciousness is not high on your list of concerns.”12

The government also is a major stakeholder in food safety, and its responses reflected the peculiar way in which regulatory authority is distributed among no less than three major agencies—the EPA, FDA, and USDA (see chapter 1). EPA officials criticized Aventis for claiming innocence about how StarLink might have gotten into the human food supply, for insufficiently informing growers about the need for crop segregation, and for flagrantly ignoring the terms of the restricted registration. The FDA at first seemed unconcerned; StarLink corn was the EPA’s problem, and the taco shells, which do fall under FDA jurisdiction, seemed unlikely to be harmful. One FDA official reassured the New York Times, “This is not a case where we have illnesses or health problems.”13 When the FDA had to ask Friends of the Earth for a sample of the taco shells in order to conduct its own after-the-fact testing, however, it seemed clear that the agency was giving “inadequate oversight and attention to a serious matter of public health.”14 The secretary of the USDA blamed Aventis: “Some might argue that the StarLink episode will lead to greater government involvement. . . . It’s important to remember that this problem may not have occurred had industry complied with the terms of its license.”15 Nevertheless, the USDA agreed to spend $20 million to buy back commingled seed in an effort to prevent disruption of the corn market.

Consumer advocacy groups used the potential allergenicity of StarLink to bolster their demands that genetically modified foods be tested before entering the food supply and labeled so people can protect themselves against foods to which they might be allergic. They viewed the events as evidence that neither government nor industry were looking out for the public interest. Representatives from Friends of the Earth and Consumers Union argued, “There is no way the taxpayer should bail out Aventis for the genetic pollution they created,” and “EPA should not reward Aventis for their failure to follow the law.”16 Even business commentators were dismayed: “Almost everybody involved screwed up. . . . The promises made by StarLink’s inventors proved worthless,