In response to a recent Oryza story (http://oryza.com/Rice-News/13991.html ) which talked about U.S. losing destination markets in Europe, RiceTec, Inc., a U.S. based seed company says the Oryza story was wrong in citing hybrid rice as the reason for the loss of the European market. (We have since changed hybrid to GMO.) The company says that publicly bred varieties from Louisiana State University were the cause of the LL601 contamination. Here is company’s full statement sent to Oryza:

Your recent article found at http://oryza.com/Rice-News/13991.html  contains a false statement.  Hybrid rice was not the reason for the loss of the European market.  Publicly bred varieties from Louisiana State University, namely CL131 and Cheniere, were the cause of the LL601 contamination.  We would appreciate it if you would issue a retraction stating the proper reason for the contamination.  Thank you for your time, Brian Ottis, Marketing and Client Support Manager, RiceTec, Inc.

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