You are here: Agriculture > Genfood and Food > Forum 1994

Biosafety of foods derived by modern biotechnology

Basler Forum Technik & Gesellschaft 1994

Download here: Biosafety of foods derived by modern biotechnology - complete documentation of the topics ( pdf 203 Kb)

A longtime experience in production, treatment and consumption of foods is the basis for their safety. The introduction of modern biotechnology in food production raises questions in the public mind about its safety. The Basel Forum on Biosafety 1994 will survey current efforts to balance the safety concerns of the public with what is scientifically established about health issues and the safety of foods derived by modern biotechnology.
The scientific approaches for safety assessment of the Netherlands, Great Britain and the United States will be presented as well as the OECD concept of 11 substantial equivalence. By focusing on genetically modified plant products, safety issues will be discussed, that have been raised about the use of antibiotic resistance marker genes or about possible effects of recombinant technologies on plant metabolism. The programme will be completed by a presentation of the EU regulatory framework on the safety of novel foods. The topics will be reviewed by experts representing relevant working groups, and emphasis will be placed on interactive discussion of safety issues by participants representing a wide variety of interest.

• Food safety - food quality. Traditional production and modern biotechnology
  Prof. I.L. Goldman, Dep. Of Horticulture Prof. M. Patriza, Food Research Institute of Uni of Wisconsin-Madison
• Safety assessment of genetically modified microorganisms and their products
  Prof. Dr. M. Teuber, Institute of Food Microbiology, Swiss Federal Inst. of Techn. Zürich
• Safety assessment of genetically plant products. Case study: Bacillus thuringiensis-toxin tomato
  Dr. H. Noteborn, State Inst. for Quality Control of Agricultural Products Dep. of Toxicology and Risk Assessment Wageningen, NL
• Safety detemination of the kanr marker gene for use in tomato, cotton and oilseed rape. Case study: Flavr SavrTM tomato
  Dr. K. Redenbaugh, Regulatory Affairs, Callgene Inc, Davis, United States
• OECD food safety concept "Substantial Equivalence"
  Dr. D. Jonas, Biotechnology & Novel Food Branch, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries & Food, London, UK