The Amflora potato looks like any garden-variety spud, but it has been genetically modified by the German chemical giant BASF to be unusually rich in starch. It also has aroused concerns that sick people and the elderly could become more vulnerable to disease because there are fears that the potato could trigger resistance to certain antibiotics in humans.
On Monday, EU farm ministers are expected to hit a deadlock over whether to authorize the potato, exposing a deepening rift between those Europeans who say gene-altered products are a boon to farmers and to industry, and those who say that the technology is potentially hazardous to humans and could pose dangers to the environment.
Officials at the European Commission, the EU executive, already have deemed the potato safe. These officials want to introduce more gene-altered products into the EU to normalize trade relations with countries like the United States, and to lower costs for farmers.
