Question
The concept of substantial equivalence has been accepted as the cornerstone of the assessment of GM foods at OECD in 1993, but would you tell me how OECD came to this conclusion? I want to know what concepts were also discussed and the reason they decided.
Submitted by: Japanese Winnie the Pooh
Answer
Expert response from Community Manager
Moderator for GMOAnswers.com
Tuesday, 07/07/2015 09:39
This article from Marianna Schauzu, who was working with the BgVV Federal Institute for Health Protection of Consumers and Veterinary Medicine in Berlin at the time of publication in 2000, outlines the history and use of substantial equivalence as part of food safety assessments. Here is an excerpt:
“The term ‘substantial equivalence’ has been introduced into the concept of safety assessment of novel foods only recently, but the underlying strategy of comparing newly developed products or techniques to existing ones has been applied for a long time – not only in agriculture, but in many other fields of science and technology when new developments were introduced.”
The OECD publication, “Safety Evaluation of Foods Derived by Modern Biotechnology: Concepts and Principles” also outlines the rationale for using substantial equivalence.
If you have any additional questions, please ask.
Answer
Expert response from Community Manager
Moderator for GMOAnswers.com
Tuesday, 07/07/2015 09:39
This article from Marianna Schauzu, who was working with the BgVV Federal Institute for Health Protection of Consumers and Veterinary Medicine in Berlin at the time of publication in 2000, outlines the history and use of substantial equivalence as part of food safety assessments. Here is an excerpt:
“The term ‘substantial equivalence’ has been introduced into the concept of safety assessment of novel foods only recently, but the underlying strategy of comparing newly developed products or techniques to existing ones has been applied for a long time – not only in agriculture, but in many other fields of science and technology when new developments were introduced.”
The OECD publication, “Safety Evaluation of Foods Derived by Modern Biotechnology: Concepts and Principles” also outlines the rationale for using substantial equivalence.
If you have any additional questions, please ask.