Is the composition of GM foods different to the composition of non-GM foods?
Sometimes the purpose of the genetic modification may be to deliberately introduce a compositional change to the food, e.g. to increase the level of a particular nutrient. Examples of GM foods with deliberate changes to composition that have been assessed by FSANZ include high oleic acid soybeans and high lysine corn. In most cases however other characteristics are changed in the organism, without affecting the composition of derived food, e.g. herbicide tolerance. Compositional analyses are primarily done to determine if any unexpected changes in composition have occurred to the food and to establish its nutritional adequacy. Compositional analyses are particularly important where there has been a deliberate change to the composition of food. Analysis of the composition of the food in these circumstances helps to confirm that the new or altered characteristic is being expressed appropriately, and also helps to quantify the magnitude of the change, which may be important for assessing
