Food safety of modern biotechnology products

The safety assessment of genetically modified (GM) or modern biotech foods goes through a long process of evaluation that takes around 10-14 years, starting from the laboratory concept to the experimental stage than on to the greenhouse, single site trial and followed by multi-site trials. Four major issues that concern safety aspects to human health of GM food or crops are addressed in this paper: 1) nutritional content of biotech-derived food, 2) levels of toxicants or potential for toxicity, 3) allergenicity issues, and 4) horizontal gene transfer and antibiotic resistance markers. The paper also focuses on two GM crops commercialized in the Philippines, GM corn and GM soybeans. Nutritional data obtained from analysis on grain and forage harvests showed that the levels of major components of maize grain (protein, fat, ash, carbohydrates, calories, and moisture) were equivalent for the GM corn and the non GM control lines. The composition of glyphosate-tolerant soybean seeds was also found to be equivalent to that of conventional soybeans. These values, even for levels of nutrients, anti-nutrients or natural toxicants were consistent with values reported in the literature for control maize or soybeans. Toxicological assessment of biotech crops showed the Bt protein is rapidly digested invitro and is not toxic to acutely gavaged mice. Studies have also shown that the Bt toxin proteins do not show meaningful amino acids sequence homology when compared to known protein toxins in data bases. One allergenicity issue, safety assessments showed that the novel proteins do not possess immunologically relevant sequence similarity with known allergens, they have a history of use with no allergenic concerns, and are rapidly digested under in vitro digestive conditions that mimic human digestion. The survival of the antibiotic resistance marker (ARM) genes was found to be similar to that of plant DNA targets, demonstrating that GM DNA survives no better that other DNA. The US FDAs thorough evaluation of the potential transfer of ARM genes to gut microorganisms showed that such gene transfer is highly unlikely for several reasons. The GM crops/foods available commercially (e.g., GM corn and soybeans in the Philippines) have been assessed for safety to human health, both as feed and food, based on international standards. Protocols for GM food safety evaluation are continuously being reviewed, standardized and improved.