How is “substantial equivalence” used to determine the safety of genetically engineered food?
The principle of substantial equivalence is a functional part of the current risk assessment process used to evaluate the safety of new foods produced using biotechnology. Basically, the concept of substantial equivalence is that novel crops or foods, such as those made using genetic engineering, can be compared with the same kinds of conventional crops or foods that have established histories of safe use given certain known risk factors.
