Human Health

Food safety evaluation

Easier said than done. An absolute guarantee that a food is safe is virtually impossible – this holds true for food made from conventional ingredients as well as for foods made from genetically modified organisms. All foods are complex mixtures of thousands of different substances, which makes the search for something dangerous very complicated.
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The experts

A scientific committee of the European Food Safety Authority called the GMO Panel sets benchmarks and provides guidelines for testing.
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More allergies because of GMOs?

There are widespread fears that if genetically modified foods with foreign proteins are introduced to the market, food allergies will become more and more widespread. This common fear actually has little to do with reality. Tests for identifying potentially dangerous allergens are becoming more and more reliable.

Allergies, what's behind them?

Do GMOs mean more allergies? 

The allergy check
 

A contentious issue: Antibiotic resistance

Antibiotic resistance genes: they’re found in many genetically modified plants. These markers are an important tool in the laboratory, but they have caused great concern in the public debate. Many antibiotics are gradually losing their medical effectiveness as more and more diseases become resistant. Will this problem worsen with the widespread cultivation of genetically modified plants carrying genes for antibiotic resistance in their cells?

Why antibiotic resistance?

Antibiotic resistance genes: a threat?

Limited use: The position of the European Food Safety Authority

Alternatives: New marker systems have already been developed