What are the risks of applying the techniques of genetic modification to foods?
The techniques of modern biotechnology do not introduce risks which are different from those already associated with the food supply. Many of the issues raised by foods resulting from genetic modification are equally applicable to foods produced by conventional means. Potential hazards remain those associated with toxic or allergenic compounds which are inherently present already in the food supply. However, unlike traditional breeding, techniques such as recombinant DNA technology permit the transfer of genetic material form unrelated species and this is precisely why a safety assessment is considered to be necessary. Similarly, a gene may be transferred from an organism expressing a protein that has no history of use as a food. Safety assessment provides assurances that toxic and or allergenic compounds are not transferred along with the desired trait when new DNA is introduced into an organism.
