Cohen, Milstein, Hausfeld & Toll, PLLC, together with five other class action firms, filed suit Dec. 1 against Aventis Crop Science USA Holding, Inc. ("Aventis'') on behalf of a nationwide class of farmers concerning the genetically modified corn known as "Starlink''. 

Starlink corn, which is produced, marketed and sold by Aventis, is not approved for human
consumption because of concerns that it is allergenic. Recent tests have, in fact, demonstrated that Starlink is present in a number of corn food products, resulting in a number of recalls. 

The lawsuit, which seeks class action status on behalf of all Unites States farmers who were
non-Starlink farmers in 2000, alleges that Aventis failed to act as outlined in the EPA registration for Starlink corn and failed to take other precautions to prevent Starlink corn from entering the human food supply chain. As a result, the suit claims, there has been widespread contamination of the Unites States corn crop with Starlink, which has in turn resulted in a loss of export and domestic markets for Unites States corn and a depression in United States corn prices. 

"Non-Starlink farmers all over the country are reporting difficulties in selling their crops due to fear of Starlink contamination,'' said Richard S. Lewis, a partner in the firm of Cohen, Milstein, Hausfeld & Toll, PLLC. "The lawsuit claims that Aventis failed to act to protect the human food chain from contamination with Starlink corn, and seeks to hold Aventis responsible for the harm it has caused to non-Starlink farmers as a result.'' 

The case seeks compensatory and punitive damages, as well as injunctive relief requiring Aventis to decontaminate all soil, farming equipment, storage equipment, harvest equipment, transportation facilities, grain elevators and non-Starlink seed supplies to prevent further contamination into 2001 and beyond. 

Joining Cohen Milstein in the case are the firms of Lieff, Cabraser, Heimann & Bernstein, New York, N.Y. and San Francisco Calif.; Pomerantz, Haudek, Block, Grossman & Gross, New York, N.Y.; Spector, Roseman & Kodroff, Philadelphia, Penn.; Winters, Brewster, Crosby & Schaefer, Marion, Ill.; and Ronald Osman & Associates, Marion, Ill. 

The suit, which was filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois, is the second suit filed by Cohen, Milstein involving genetically modified food. Cohen Milstein presently serves as lead counsel in the case of Blades, et al. v. Monsanto Company, which alleges anticompetitive cartel activity and price fixing of genetically modified seeds, as well as inadequate testing of genetically modified seeds for human and environmental safety. That case is also pending in the Southern District of Illinois, and is in the discovery stage. 

Company news release
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