The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has updated its guidance document on the allergenics of genetically-modified plants and is inviting the contribution of all interested stakeholders in a public consultation on the document, which will run until 25 September.
The draft guidance document takes account of the most recent scientific progress since the general recommendations were formulated by EFSA in 2013 on risk assessment of GMOs for human food and animal feed. The progress reveals new methods likely to be used when assessing allergenics.
The text reflects new requirements in EU legislation on authorising the marketing of genetically-modified plants for human food and animal feed. EU law requires a number of allergens to be included in the assessment. The document does not at present include studies of in vitro digestibility. EFSA decided to postpone this question while awaiting further assessments.
The draft guidance document resulted from work that began in June 2015 with a workshop attended by eight stakeholder representatives. A second workshop will be held on Wednesday 23 November to discuss comments made during the consultation. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)