BASF indentifies cause of Amadea and Amflora starch potato mingling

BASF Plant Science has identified the root cause of the starch potato comingling in northern Sweden. During the course of company's regular internal quality assurance measures in August, BASF Plant Science discovered 47 Amadea plants in Amflora propagation fields and immediately reported this to the responsible authority. None of the potatoes have entered commercial potato starch processing. Amadea is BASF’s second genetically modified starch potato, which BASF Plant Science recently submitted for EU approval.

BASF Plant Science has provided representatives from the European Commission as well as from the countries where Amflora is currently cultivated, namely Sweden, the Czech Republic and Germany, access to all the documents regarding its potato production. Additionally, the company proposed improvements to the production system and the quality assurance. The history of all the potatoes was traced. This root cause analysis identified the temporary cultivation of Amadea and Amflora plants in the same physical space in the early seed propagation stage as the cause for the comingling. BASF Plant Science will therefore discard the harvests from all the affected potato fields in northern Sweden. This affects approximately 16 hectares.

“We traced back the cause and can narrow the comingling down to a part of our harvest in Sweden,” said Peter Eckes, President of BASF Plant Science. “The mix-up occurred because Amadea and Amflora plants were in close proximity to each other at our facilities. We regret this very much. To prevent such mistakes in the future, we will ensure complete separation of the production systems for Amadea and Amflora.”
 
The Amflora potatoes being cultivated in fields in Germany and the Czech Republic came from different seed lots which have always been cultivated separately from Amadea seed lots. This year, BASF Plant Science cultivated Amflora on 150 hectares in the Czech Republic and 15 hectares in Germany. There is no indication of the presence of Amadea potatoes in these seed lots. Subject to the decisions of the national authorities, the harvest from the Czech Republic is planned to be used for starch extraction whereas the harvest from Germany is intended for seed production.

The EU Commission wants to evaluate some additional information before making a decision on the usage of the remaining seed lots in Sweden. BASF Plant Science has already provided the requested information. The root cause analysis carried out by BASF Plant Science shows that the remaining seed lots are unaffected.

BASF Plant Science will prevent unintentional comingling of potato varieties from happening in future by taking the following additional measures:

• The production of approved potatoes such as Amflora will be separated completely from potatoes which are still in the stages of approval or development.
• All plants will also be subjected to molecular analysis at an early stage of propagation before being planted in the field for the first time.
• BASF Plant Science will further develop the quality controls in potato cultivation in close alignment with the European as well as national authorities.