GMSA | GM-Post Market Monitoring

GMSAFOOD

When the whole population consumes GMOs as food, both pre-market risk assessment screens for potential untoward effects on health are essential and valuable as well as post market monitoring (PMM) which is vital for recognizing unexpected effects

GMO SAFETY

GMO safety testing is focused on the risk that untoward responses will result from GMO exposure. It is partly based on a concept of “substantial quivalence” to unmodified organisms that was established in 1991 by the FAO-WHO. It includes acute toxicity testing with consumed doses 100 times the expected exposure of humans and/or repeated dose toxicity. FAO/WHO concluded that pre-market allergenicity assessment of the genetically modified food gives a satisfactory safety assurance, but it recognized that further evaluation for adverse effects of GMOs should be considered once the product has reached the market.

USAGE OF GM FOODS

The increased usage of GM foods for direct human consumption and for feeding to meat and milk producing animals has lead to some public concerns. Together with the environmental risks associated with such crops, there is also increasing concern associated with the GM crops such as toxicity and the potential of the introduced proteins to elicit a potentially harmful immunological response including allergenic hypersensitivity

GMO FOODS

The promise of GMO foods has led to an increase in their cultivation to 114 million hectares of GM crops were grown globally in 2007.

FUNCTION OF POST MARKET MONITORING

The function of post market monitoring is to further assess possible nutritional and health effects of GM foods on a mixed population of consumers. Currently, however, little is known about exposure levels, whether adverse effects are predictable, and the occurrence of any unexpected effects following market release of GM foods.

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PROJECT SUMMARY

Scientists in Austria, Ireland, Norway, Hungary, Turkey and Australia have established a consortium to study the influence of genetically modified (GM) foods on health and well-being. The newly established consortium, GMSAFOOD (pronounced, GM-safe-food) will focus on developing biomarkers that could be followed after a GM food (food made from GMOs) is released on the market. Dr. Michelle Epstein at the Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria, the coordinator of the European Commission, Framework 7 project, emphasizes that this project addresses GM food safety. The function of post market monitoring is to further assess possible nutritional and health effects of GM foods on a mixed population of consumers. Currently, however, little is known about exposure levels, whether adverse effects are predictable, and the occurrence of any unexpected effects following market release of GM foods. Thus, monitoring during the post market period is essential for effective surveillance. The objective of the 3-year European Commission funded project is to identify a panel of biomarkers, which could be used to predict harmful GM food effects after product authorization.