Five South Korean companies have been using Starlink corn to make edible corn starch, despite a ban on its use, alleges the Korea Food and Drug Administration ( kfda ). Starlink, a genetically modified ( gm ) corn, causes allergy and its use for human consumption has been banned in many countries. "We cannot punish the firms as they are under the control of local authorities,' a kfda spokesperson said. kfda had banned the imports of Starlink corn for human consumption in October 2000, after traces were found in corn imported from the us .