Protecting the Food Supply in an Era of Pharmaceutical and Industrial Crops

The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) and a panel of experts conclude that current U.S. corn and soybean production, storage, and transport systems cannot prevent the contamination of the food and feed supply by pharma crops. The report advocates for a "virtually zero contamination" standard and recommends that the USDA halt outdoor production of these crops until a separate, dedicated system is established. Proposed alternatives include using non-food crops like tobacco, guayule, or jojoba, indoor cultivation, and the implementation of rigorous confinement management systems.

• Current U.S. production, storage, and transport systems for corn and soybean are incapable of ensuring virtually zero contamination of the human food and animal feed supplies without substantial modification.
• There are two primary routes for pharmaceutical transgenes to contaminate the food and feed supply: the physical mixing of seeds during production, harvest, storage, transport, and handling, and the biological dispersal of pollen.
• The report proposes a "virtually zero contamination" standard, which acknowledges that absolute zero is impossible but requires that the likelihood of contamination be so low as to be nearly zero.
• To achieve virtually zero contamination, the report suggests that pharma crop production must be completely separate from the food/feed system, potentially through geographic isolation zones in areas where commodity crops are not grown.
• If pharma crops are grown within commodity production areas, a complex system of dedicated machinery, industry-wide marking, spatial separation, and biological confinement (such as male sterility) would be required.
• The use of non-food/feed crops is recommended as a safer alternative to avoid food supply contamination, with tobacco identified as the most promising candidate due to existing infrastructure and molecular tools.
• Other potential non-food alternatives include guayule, which is used for rubber production, and jojoba, though both would require significant research and development (5 to 10+ years) before full production.
• Indoor production in facilities such as secure greenhouses or caves is suggested as a method to effectively block pollen dispersal and reduce the risk of contamination.
• The report identifies a critical need for a formal confinement management system, similar to ISO standards, to provide third-party oversight, auditing, and documented protocols to reduce human error.

APA

Andow, D., Mellon, M., Rissler, J., Lamkey, K., Nafziger, E., Strayer, D., Daniell, H., & Gepts, P. (2004). Protecting the Food Supply in an Era of Pharmaceutical and Industrial Crops. Union of Concerned Scientists. https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2019-09/pharma_fullreport.pdf

Chicago

Andow, David, Margaret Mellon, Jane Rissler, Kendall Lamkey, Emerson Nafziger, Dennis Strayer, Henry Daniell, and Paul Gepts. Protecting the Food Supply in an Era of Pharmaceutical and Industrial Crops. Union of Concerned Scientists, 2004. https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2019-09/pharma_fullreport.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Andow |first1=David |last2=Mellon |first2=Margaret |last3=Rissler |first3=Jane |last4=Lamkey |first4=Kendall |last5=Nafziger |first5=Emerson |last6=Strayer |first6=Dennis |last7=Daniell |first7=Henry |last8=Gepts |first8=Paul |title=Protecting the Food Supply in an Era of Pharmaceutical and Industrial Crops |publisher=Union of Concerned Scientists |date=December 2004 |url=https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2019-09/pharma_fullreport.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{andow2004protecting, author = {Andow, David and Mellon, Margaret and Rissler, Jane and Lamkey, Kendall and Nafziger, Emerson and Strayer, Dennis and Daniell, Henry and Gepts, Paul}, title = {{Protecting the Food Supply in an Era of Pharmaceutical and Industrial Crops}}, institution = {Union of Concerned Scientists}, year = {2004}, month = dec, url = {https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2019-09/pharma_fullreport.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }