Food Standards Agency statement regarding research into the safety of genetically modified food

Tuesday 24 June 2003

The Food Standards Agency commissioned and published a series of five research projects on the safety of GM foods in July 2002. All the completed studies were published on the Agency website, and four of the five pieces of research were also published in scientific journals.

The smallest of the five studies, conducted by scientists at Newcastle University, examined whether DNA in genetically modified soya survives passage through the intestine of human volunteers. Although small fragments of GM DNA survived in the upper regions of the gut of some participants in the study, no GM material survived the passage through the entire human digestive tract, and no intact transgenes from GM food were incorporated into the gut microflora of the human volunteers.

The fact that fragments of GM DNA survived in the upper regions of the gut is entirely consistent with existing scientific knowledge, which is that fragments of DNA from food eaten by humans can survive in the gut. Such fragments of DNA cannot change the genetic make-up of the body.

A report published by the Royal Society – produced by a panel of eminent independent international experts – in February 2002^† noted that a normal diet for humans and animals comprises large amounts of DNA. It added: ‘…indeed digestion of DNA in the gastrointestinal tract may make a significant contribution to nutrition. … Given the very long history of DNA consumption from a wide variety of sources, it is likely that such consumption poses no significant risk to human health, and that additional ingestion of GM DNA has no effect.’

All GM foods approved to date in the EU have undergone a rigorous safety assessment. This assessment is carried out on a case-by-case basis and includes detailed consideration of the genetic modification that has been used, tests which address the potential for allergenicity and toxicity of the introduced protein, an analysis of the composition of the food and a consideration of the intended use of the food (e.g. whether it will be highly processed or eaten raw).

Further information
Royal Society report, February 2002:
'Most ingested DNA is rapidly broken down in the intestinal tract (see Royal Society, 1998, section 3.4), although it can persist for some time in saliva (Schubbert et al., 1994). Nevertheless, low levels of uptake of gene-sized DNA into cells of the gastrointestinal tract have been detected (Duggan et al., 2000; Schubbert et al., 1996; Doerfler, 2000; Einspanier et al., 2001; Flachowsky, 2000). The uptake may be due to specialised cells of the lining of the gastrointestinal tracts (so-called M-cells), which actively sample gut contents as part of the process of protecting the body from infection (Nicoletti, 2000). This will normally have no biological consequences because the DNA will be degraded in the cell. There have been no reports of transgenes detected in the cells of cows fed GM maize, although the presence of plant chloroplast genes, which are present at about 1000 times higher concentration than any transgene, could be detected (Einspanier et al., 2001; Flachowsky, 2000). This suggests that DNA present in food can find its way into mammalian cells at some low frequency. In the unlikely event that the DNA is recombined into a host chromosome, the probability that it will exert any biological effect on that cell is very low. The likelihood of any biological consequence for the whole organism is even more remote.'

The independent Advisory Committee on Novel Foods and Processes (ACNFP) advises the Food Standards Agency in the UK. The ACNFP consists of scientists from a variety of different disciplines (nutrition, molecular biology, toxicology, allergenicity and microbiology), two consumer representatives and an ethicist.

Reference
^† Genetically modified plants for food use and human health – an update, The Royal Society, February 2002.