This fall Canadians may well be eating a genetically engineered corn called "SmartStax", that is unique because it is has eight GE traits combined or ‘stacked' together - 6 for insect resistance (Bt) and 2 for herbicide tolerance.

‘SmartStax' was created through a research collaboration between Monsanto and Dow AgroSciences so that the two corporations could share their GE traits. Monsanto and Dow are predicting that ‘SmartStax' will be the largest ever commercial launch of a GE corn because it will replace a lot of the existing GE corn on the market. But Health Canada did not access "SmartStax" for human safety and did not even bother to authorize it.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency authorized the environmental release of 'SmartStax' but never conducted an environmental risk assessment and actually substantially weakened its environmental stewarship rules for the crop. Because the eight traits have previously been approved in separate crops.

Canadian regulators do not see anything new in combining the eight together in one crop despite the fact that the Codex international food safety guidelines that Canada helped to negotiate clearly state that stacked traits can lead to unintended effects and should be subject to a full safety assessment.

There are many serious problems with ‘SmartStax' including new potential environmental and health risks, all exacerbated by the Canadian government's refusal to assess the new risks of GE stacked traits.

Health Canada did not conduct a safety assessment for ‘SmartStax'. The department has chosen to exempt stacked trait GE crops from its already weak biotech safety assessments. Health Canada has approved the eight traits separately, in the past, and does not see anything new in combining the eight traits together. This is not consistent with the international guidelines that Canada has negotiated at Codex. Codex guidelines are recognized under the World Trade Organization and are used to settle trade disputes. Codex is clear that foods from stacked crops with stacked GE traits should go through a full safety assessment for new unintended effects. Health Canada did not do this and does not even list the ‘SmartStax' corn on its website as a new GE food.

The insecticidal toxins in Bt crops show similarities to proteins that cause food allergies. In 2000/2001, a Bt corn known as ‘StarLink' was approved in the U.S. only for animal feed because of concerns it could cause food allergies. When it massively contaminated the U.S. food supply, hundreds reported allergic reactions, and the subsequent investigation was never able to determine the cause. ‘SmartStax', which contains 6 insecticidal toxins, will mean greater human exposure to insecticidal toxins that may be allergenic.