Clarification on "EFSA Genetically Engineered Crop Composition Equivalence Approach: Performance and Consistency"
Rod A Herman1,2, Nicholas P Storer1, Carl Walker2
1Corteva Agriscience, 9330 Zionsville Road, Indianapolis, Indiana 46268, United States.
Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry
|May 1, 2020
Summary
The European Food Safety Authority's (EFSA) method for genetically engineered (GE) crops has low power to detect true equivalence, leading to inconsistent safety conclusions. Policy improvements are needed for better consumer protection regarding GE crop composition.
Area of Science:
- Food safety assessment
- Genetically engineered crops
- Risk analysis
Background:
- The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) uses concurrently grown non-GE crops in risk assessments for GE varieties.
- This approach aims to evaluate the compositional normality of GE crops.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the EFSA's approach for assessing genetically engineered (GE) crops.
- To identify limitations in detecting true compositional equivalence.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of the statistical power of EFSA's comparative approach.
- Review of the implications of comparator selection on safety conclusions.
Main Results:
- EFSA's method, while managing the risk of false equivalence, suffers from low statistical power to detect true equivalence.
- Inconsistent safety findings arise due to the choice of non-GE comparators for the same GE event.
Conclusions:
- The current EFSA approach may not be optimal for ensuring robust safety conclusions for GE crops.
- Policy adjustments are recommended to enhance consumer protection by better aligning risk assessment with compositional variation and safety.
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