Public consultation on the potential for genetically modified (GM) plants to cause an allergic reaction in relation to food and feed consumption is being run by the European Food Safety Authority (efsa).
The consultation, which is open until September 25, is part of the organisation’s work towards the development of a new guidance document on GM allergenicity.
It is also timed to “reflect” recent EU legislation on GM food and feed by addressing new requirements for the authorisation of GM plants for the European market. These requirements include the impact of certain allergens on the compositional analysis of the allergenicity assessment of a GM plant.
Efsa’s declared aim is to include the latest scientific findings in its risk assessments, adding that it continually monitors scientific developments to this end. In this context, the planned guidance document on allergenicity will “reflect scientific advances” as compared to the organisation’s current guidance.
The current process will be followed by a workshop on November 23, 2016, where feedback from the public consultation will be discussed.