www.checkbiotech.org ; www.raupp.info ; www.czu.cz

EFSA has launched a public consultation on the use of animal feeding trials
to assess the safety and nutritional value of GM food or feed. EFSA?s GMO
Panel discussed the different types of scientific tests available including
the use of animal feeding trials and made a number of recommendations. This
work aims at providing further guidance on risk assessment approaches for GM
food and feed, which may also be relevant for other areas of food and feed
safety assessment. Views of all stakeholders and interested parties are now
being sought before final recommendations are agreed, December 2006.

The risk assessment of GM plants and derived food/feed is based on
comparison with non-GM counterparts. The GMO Panel considers that a
comparative approach following international risk assessment standards using
molecular, compositional and other analyse remains an appropriate basis for
determining whether animal feeding studies are needed.

The Panel recommends that any risk assessment of GM food/feed should first
consider whether initial studies using in silico and in vitro approaches may
answer some of the safety questions and indicate whether there is a need for
subsequent in vivo studies, such as animal feeding trials. This report
discusses in depth the strengths and weaknesses of repeated dose animal
feeding trials for the risk assessment of whole GM food or feed. Such
feeding trials on the whole food or feed should be considered in cases of
substantial differences between the GM plant and its conventional
counterpart or where there are indications for the potential occurrence of
unintended effects. In addition, the Panel considered when livestock feeding
studies are needed for the safety and nutritional evaluation of feed derived
from GM plants.

The Panel made a number of recommendations to help improve the scientific
basis for assessing the safety and nutritional aspects of whole foods, such
as further development of in silico and in vitro tests as well as
recommendations for appropriate design of in vivo tests.

Comments are invited by 31 January 2007 on the consultation paper on animal
feeding trials, which is available on the EFSA website at:
[www.efsa.europa.eu]
Trials.html.

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