Call Prefix : PR-AM

Call Suffix : 1999

Call Cutter : BIC500

Location : SEARCA Library

Format : Printed

Publication Date : March 1999

Summary : Conclusions and Recommendations: Principles of substantial equivalence should be applied in establishing the safety of foods and food components derived from genetically modified organisms. These principles provide equal or increased assurance of the safety of foods derived from genetically modified organisms relative to the safety of foods derived by conventional methods. A food determined to be substantially equivalent to a traditional counterpart may be regarded to be as safe as its counterpart - no further safety consideration is warranted. Failure to establish substantial equivalence does not necessarily mean that the food is not safe - its safety must be assessed in accord with accepted scientific principles. Transfer of genes from commonly allergenic food sources should be discouraged unless it can be documented that the transferred gene does not encode an allergen. Scientific approaches to the assessment of the allergic potential of foods derived from genetically modified organisms can, and should be undertaken. The possibility of horizontal gene transfer from genetically modified plants is considered small; data on gene transfer is only necessary when the introduced gene, if transfer were to occur, would give rise to human health concern. There is no need to develop and maintain accessible databases relative to establishing the substantial equivalence of genetically modified food plants, animals, and microrganisms, particularly in the context of nutrient, toxicant, and allergen context strategy that integrates conventional and biotechnology crop improvement applications to produce more food where the need is greatest, and where teh welfare value of food is the highest.