(Photo: Florin Gorgan/ Flickr)Wednesday afternoon, officials with the US Department of Agriculture announced the detection of a non-approved strain of genetically modified (GMO) wheat in an Oregon field.
According to the Associated Press, the wheat is the same genetically engineered strain that was being tested by GM giant Monsanto nearly a decade ago, but was never approved. In 2004, Monsanto announced that they were stopping efforts to commercialize the wheat after facing widespread opposition from farmers, food manufacturers, environmentalists and consumers.
“Virtually every major wheat-user in the world had already rejected this product before it even was allowed on the market,” Juan Lopez of Friends of the Earth International said at the time. “This must be one of the most rejected products ever developed.”
In addition to concerns about the safety of genetically modified seeds and their corruption of other crops, the USDA is worried about the discovery’s “potential threat to trade with other countries that have concerns about genetically modified food,” as the US exports nearly half of its wheat crop.
The USDA is investigating how it ended up in the field. Officials have not commented on how it may have gotten there.
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This article originally appeared on: Common Dreams