A German food producer has sued two Arkansas rice millers, alleging
that unapproved genetically engineered rice was in shipments it purchased to
make various food items.
Rickmers Reismuehle GMBH, based in Bremen, filed separate federal
complaints Tuesday against Riceland Foods cooperative and Producers Rice
Mill, both based in Stuttgart.

Rickmers alleged the Arkansas millers breached contracts with the food
company by selling rice that did not meet the terms of a 2003 European Union
ban on the importation and sale of genetically modified foods.

The lawsuits seek judgment for damages incurred by Rickmers in
purchasing, using and recalling the rice and the food products made with it.

Keith Glover, president and chief executive officer for Producers,
said Wednesday he had not seen the lawsuit but suspects it stems from the
federal government's finding a year ago that the food supply contained
traces of unapproved genetically engineered rice. Before that, Glover said,
producers believed U.S. rice was free of the genetically modified grain.

Riceland did not immediately return a call for comment.

According to the lawsuit against Riceland, the Arkansas miller
violated a 2005 contract by including unapproved genetically modified rice
to Rickmers in a shipment of about 850,000 pounds, which the German company
then unknowingly processed for various food products for market.

Rickmers paid $119,248 for the shipment and discovered the following
year that the rice included contaminated grain. Similarly, the suit said,
Riceland sold 1.7 million pounds of rice under a 2006 contract with Rickmers
that turned out to include contaminated grain, which Rickmers had used in
food production. Rickmers said it paid more than $272,000 for that shipment.

The company made similar allegations in its lawsuit against Producers
Rice Mill, saying it paid $217,117 under a 2005 contract for a shipment of
1.7 million pounds of rice that Rickmers says included contaminated rice.
The company said that under 2006 contracts, Rickmers paid $1.6 million for
10 shipments of 850,000 pounds each that Rickmers said also turned out to
include genetically modified rice.

Dozens of lawsuits have been filed over a genetically modified rice,
designated LLRICE601, that was found in storage bins in Arkansas and
Missouri. Those cases have been consolidated in the U.S. District Court of
the Eastern District of Missouri in St. Louis.

Many included as a defendant Bayer CropScience AG, a German company
with U.S. headquarters in Research Triangle Park, N.C. Bayer CropScience
sought and received from the U.S. Department of Agriculture approval of the
rice for human consumption after the contamination was discovered.



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