Arkansas rice farmers file a lawsuit

August 30, 2006

A group of Arkansas rice farmers has filed a state lawsuit against Bayer CropScience and Riceland Foods Inc., concerning genetically modified rice.

The 20 farmers, who contend genetically modified rice contaminated the state's long-grain rice, are seeking damages as compensation for falling prices, The Arkansas News Bureau reported.

Riceland Foods, which has headquarters in Stuttgart, Ark., is the nation's top-producing rice company and the world's leading miller and marketer of rice.

Two similar class action lawsuits were filed Monday in federal court.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced earlier this month trace amounts of genetically modified rice have been found in Arkansas long grain rice. That prompted Japan to suspend imports of U.S. long grain rice, which caused prices to drop, the ANB reported. The European Union says it will accept only U.S. long grain rice that's been specially inspected to be free of genetically modified material.

The lawsuit says Bayer CropScience modified the rice to be resistant to a herbicide it developed. The Department of Agriculture has not approved the genetically modified rice for commercial distribution.

Riceland is accused of becoming aware of the contamination in January and failing to tell rice farmers.

Copyright 2006 by United Press International

2.2 /5 (17 votes)  

Rank 2.2 /5 (17 votes)
Tags

Relevant PhysicsForums posts

More news stories

US workers are 'giving away the store,' costing firms billions

Nearly 70 percent of the nation's service employees give away free goods and services – from hamburgers to cable TV – costing companies billions of dollars a year, according to a groundbreaking study.

Other Sciences / Economics & Business

created 14 hours ago | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 8

Storm warning: Financial tsunami heading this way

In today's global village, national coffers are more interconnected than ever before. And as the current economic crisis has proven, a downturn in one country can travel in a wave across the globe, like a financial tsunami. ...

Other Sciences / Economics & Business

created 15 hours ago | popularity 3 / 5 (2) | comments 7

Kids show cultural gender bias

(PhysOrg.com) -- Talk about gender confusion! A recent study by University of Alberta researchers Elena Nicoladis and Cassandra Foursha-Stevenson in the Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology into whether speaki ...

Other Sciences / Social Sciences

created 20 hours ago | popularity 1.5 / 5 (2) | comments 2

Prague gets hold of modern genetics founder Mendel's papers

Germany has handed to the Czech Republic a manuscript of Johann Gregor Mendel, founder of modern genetics, on his plant hybridization experiments, the Czech foreign minister said Thursday.

Other Sciences / Other

created 11 hours ago | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 1

'Flipped classroom' teaching model gains an online community

Researchers at Harvard University have launched the Peer Instruction (PI) Network, a new global social network for users of interactive teaching methods.

Other Sciences / Social Sciences

created 15 hours ago | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0


'Dark plasmons' transmit energy

Microscopic channels of gold nanoparticles have the ability to transmit electromagnetic energy that starts as light and propagates via "dark plasmons," according to researchers at Rice University.

FDA-approved drug rapidly clears amyloid from the brain, reverses Alzheimer's symptoms in mice

Neuroscientists at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine have made a dramatic breakthrough in their efforts to find a cure for Alzheimer's disease. The researchers' findings, published in the journal Science, show t ...

Hydrogen from acidic water: Researchers develop potential low cost alternative to platinum for splitting water

A technique for creating a new molecule that structurally and chemically replicates the active part of the widely used industrial catalyst molybdenite has been developed by researchers with the Lawrence Berkeley ...

Ultraviolet protection molecule in plants yields its secrets

Lying around in the sun all day is hazardous not just for humans but also for plants, which have no means of escape. Ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun can damage proteins and DNA inside cells, leading ...

Soraa LED light may dim 50-watt halogen rivals

(PhysOrg.com) -- Soraa, a Fremont, California company founded in 2008, this week launched its first product, a light that uses LEDS (light emitting diodes). The "Soraa LED MR16 lamp" is the "perfect" replacement ...

Anyone can learn to be more inventive, cognitive researcher says

There will always be a wild and unpredictable quality to creativity and invention, says Anthony McCaffrey, a cognitive psychology researcher at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, because an "Aha moment" is rare and ...