Background According to EU legislation, genetically modified plants (GM plants) should follow a scientific assessment of any risk that they may pose to human and animal health, including an allergenicity assessment. According to the EFSA guidance, the allergenicity assessment of GM plants is structured into the assessment of i) the newly expressed proteins and ii) the whole GM plant. For the la...

The variation in nutrient content is important because of the effects it can have in meeting nutritional requirements. It is therefore important to analyse the composition of the genetically modified food and to establish the extent to which the product is equivalent to its non-genetically modified counterpart. Statistically significant differences in composition may warrant closer examination ...

Two conditions are stated which must be fulfilled in order to safeguard that the negative effects of environmental pollution and risks do not outweigh the beneficial effects of global technological development and free markets. The conditions are: (1) There must be consensus on the conditions under which activities are allowed, among all those who may experience negative effects from those acti...

Worldwide, qualitative methods based on PCR are most commonly used as screening tools for genetically modified material in food and feed. However, the increasing number and diversity of genetically modified organisms (GMO) require effective methods for simultaneously detecting several genetic elements marking the presence of transgenic events. Herein we describe the development and validation o...

A yeast strain capable of leavening both unsugared and sweet bread dough efficiently would reduce the necessity of carrying out the expensive procedure of producing multiple baker's yeast strains. But issues involving the use of genetically modified foods have rendered the use of recombinant techniques for developing yeast strains controversial. Therefore, we used strong selection and screening...

The rapid globalization of the world economy has increased the need for an astute understanding of cultural differences in perceptions, values, and ways of thinking about new food technologies. In this paper, we describe how socio-psychological and cultural factors may affect public perceptions of the risk of genetically modified (GM) food. We present psychological, sociological, and anthropolo...

There is concern about the extent to which consumers will accept genetically modified (GM) foods if they are commercialized in China. The evidence from the existing literature is mixed and sometimes confusing. The objective of this study is to conduct a large in-depth face-to-face in-house survey that examines the consumers' awareness, acceptance of and willingness to buy GM foods in China. To ...

The genetically manipulated organism (GMO) crisis demonstrated that technological development based solely on the law of the marketplace and State protection against serious risks to health and safety is no longer a warrant of ethical acceptability. In the first part of our paper, we critique the implicitly individualist social-acceptance model for State regulation of technology and recommend a...

Knowledge Based BioEconomy [KBBE] is based mainly on taking advantages of modern, innovative technologies, including genetic engineering and biotechnology. Genetically modified products and technologies used for their production [particularly in the case of agro-food industry] raise a lot of emotions among the public. Majority of people is not oriented that: • the competitiveness of the agri-fo...

In many domains, risk assessment is a defined methodology aimed at determining and quantifying risks associated with a specific activity, including the identification and characterization of potential hazards and their probability of occurrence. It relies on the gathering and interpretation of scientific and technical data and must be carried out in a scientifically sound and transparent manner...