Hightower Lowdown

In the most recent chapter in the wondrous tale of high-tech globaliza- tion, the Mexi-mush fast- food chain Taco Bell has had its bell rung thanks to genetic contamination of its taco shells.

Follow the bouncing ball as we review the cast of characters: Taco Bell, a subsidiary of Tricon Global Restaurants, licenses the supermarket sales of its brand-name taco shells to Kraft Foods, which is owned by tobacco giant Philip Morris. Kraft gets the taco shells from a factory in Mexico that is owned by Sabritas, a subsidiary of PepsiCo. Sabdtas gets its corn meal from a mill in Texas owned by Azteca Milling, Azteca bought its corn from a sup- plier which included some genetically engineered corn that had been developed by Aventis CropScience, a subsidiary of Aventis, the European drug giant.

The sticky part for Kraft and Taco Bell is not only that the corn from Aventis was genetically altered (which is not what the companies say they want), but that this particular kind of genetically engineered corn is not approved for human consumption. So where did the contaminated corn come from? No one knows, which points up the danger of releasing these unsafe, poorly regulated, genetically altered organisms into nature.

Contact the Genetically Engineered Food Alert to help stop these global biotech profiteers: 1-800- 390-3373.