Does GM food cause allergy or any health problem to men and animals?

After ten years of food and feed use of GM plants, no hazard to human or animal health associated with the consumption of marketed GM products has been formally reported, despite frequent rumours and media assaults against GM. The current pre-marketing risk assessment goes beyond all existing procedures applying to conventional food and makes GM food one of the safest available on the markets. In this risk evaluation procedure, both direct effects of the newly introduced proteins and DNA, and indirect effects due to compositional changes (intended or unintended) are examined. Direct effects include toxic and allergic effects, and are studied on a case by case. A range of statistical and experimental approaches are used, complying to international standards and guidelines, that are described by the EFSA ‘Guidance document of the GMO Panel for the risk assessment of genetically modified plants and derived food and feed’ (http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/science/gmo/gmo_guidance.html). These include informatics analysis of the newly introduced proteins and comparison with known toxins and allergens, in vitro tests like protein reactivity with sera from allergic patients, and  rat feeding tests with isolated components or whole plant materials. In addition to this systematic pre-market analysis, post-market surveillance is organized via appropriate traceability and labelling measures, which is more severe in the EU than anywhere else. This may be justified by the fact that toxicity and allergenicity are not always intrinsic properties of the food constituents, but may result from their interaction with the individual genetic backgrounds of the consumers.

Furthermore, when discussing the effect of GM plants and food on human health, it should be reminded that currently marketed GM plants can also positively contribute to human health : reduced pesticide use with Bt cotton has been shown to improve health of farm workers in China and insect protection via Bt technology reduces mycotoxin contamination of maize.  Active research and development are also underway for improving nutritional qualities of food and for eliminating allergens which are naturally found in major food crops, like rice, wheat and soybean.

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