The world according to Monsanto : pollution, corruption, and

the invention of gmos 145Three days later, on May 29, Monsanto was victorious: the FDA publishedin the Federal Register its regulatory policy on “foods derived from newplant varieties.” 26 It should be noted that the title of this twenty-page document,considered a bible around the world, carefully avoided any referenceto biotechnology, presented in the introduction as merely an extension ofgenealogical selection, following recommendations issued by the WhiteHouse six years earlier: “Foods . . . derived from plant varieties developed bythe new methods of genetic modifications are regulated within the existingframework ...utilizing an approach identical to that applied to foods developedby traditional plant breeding.”Anyone wanting further information was asked to contact a man namedJames Maryanski. I went through a long struggle to locate the man who heldthe key position of Biotechnology Coordinator for Food Safety and AppliedNutrition at the FDA from 1985 to 2006. In 2006, this microbiologist whohad joined the agency in 1977 was enjoying an active retirement, working asan “independent consultant” on the “safety of GM foods” for various governments,as the CV he gave me states. An interesting sidelight: as I wasabout to give up locating him, I asked to interview an FDA representativeabout the 1992 regulation, explaining that I was producing a documentaryon Monsanto, particularly on the approval of Roundup Ready soybeans. OnJuly 7, 2006, I received an e-mail from Mike Herndon, one of the agency’spress officers: “I must respectfully decline your request for an on-camera interview.FDA must appear neutral in its relationship with food manufacturers.Being interviewed in a documentary about a company whose productsFDA regulates is inappropriate.”The statement is ironic in light of the fact that the 1992 policy statementwas developed in close cooperation with Monsanto, which in fact wantedthe agency to present an “appearance of regulation,” in the words of MichaelHansen. And this task was confided to none other than Maryanski underthe supervision of Michael Taylor, who was then deputy commissioner ofthe FDA. (I have already described Taylor’s role in the bovine growth hormoneaffair; I will come back to his subsequent career as a Monsanto vicepresident.)I was finally able to meet the former FDA official one day in July 2006 inNew York, on his return from a consultation in Japan. I was surprised to encountera short, shy man with light-colored eyes and a calm, quiet voice.Later, viewing this filmed three-hour conversation, I was able to recognize