Corn seeds developed by Swiss agrochemicals group Syngenta AG were mistakenly contaminated with a strain of genetically modified corn during 2001 through 2004, the company said on Tuesday. Syngenta said that all of the problematic plantings and seed stock have been "identified and either destroyed or isolated for future destruction." The company said seed produced from these lines over the four-year period represented "one-one hundredth of one percent of the US corn acres planted during that time," or 37,000 acres.
While the Bt10 biotech corn strain was mistakenly used, "there is no health or safety issue with this product," the company said.