EFSA positive opinion on food produced by genetic scissors

In June 2024, the EU Food Safety Authority (EFSA), which is responsible for assessing novel foods, published an opinion stating that foods optimized using CRISPR-Cas9 gene scissors pose no new risks compared to foods produced conventionally with microorganisms. EFSA recommends that all foods produced with microorganisms should therefore be regulated uniformly.

The report was commissioned by the European Parliament in February 2024 after the French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety (ANSES) had been involved in the Commission's draft law on the deregulation of new technologies (see special series and 3-part video series AGCT Genetic Engineering. Report v. 18.07.2023 ) had consistently claimed health risks from genetically modified plants. In its abstract, the EFSA states: "The EFSA GMO Panel did not identify any additional hazards and risks associated with the use of NGTs compared to conventional breeding techniques in its previous Opinions."

The report is in efsa Journal of 19 June 2024 published.