The European Food Safety Authority’s (EFSA)’s favourable opinions on a GMO yeast-derived “fake meat” ingredient are full of data gaps and errors and put public health at risk, according to an analysis by Claire Robinson of GMWatch and Prof Michael Antoniou. EFSA had no safety concerns about Impossible Foods’ application for EU market approval of its soy leghemoglobin product (LegH Prep), which is derived from a genetically modified version of the yeast K. phaffii. LegH Prep is intended to give the company’s meat substitute products, such as the Impossible Burger, a “bleeding” appearance. Robinson and Antoniou’s analysis found that EFSA ignored or dismissed important findings in Impossible Foods-commissioned animal feeding trials with LegH Prep, including signs of anemia, reduced blood clotting ability, and kidney function problems. EFSA also accepted safety data on LegH Prep derived from an irrelevant GM yeast strain, rather than the “optimised” one that the company intends to use for commercial production for the EU – a potentially dangerous error as an “optimised” strain of GM bacteria used by a manufacturer of a food supplement in the 1980s unexpectedly created toxins that sickened over 1500 Americans, killing some of them. Robinson and Antoniou are calling upon EFSA to withdraw their opinions. GMWatch

 

 

Following the Polish EU Council presidency’s new draft EU law to exclude the new generation of genetically modified organisms (new GMOs, so-called NGTs) from most EU legislative requirements, Friends of the Earth Europe has published briefings assessing the impacts of the deregulation plans on patents, labelling, risk assessments and liability. The briefings reveal a stark divide: a handful of biotech and pesticide corporations will reap the benefits and profits, while farmers, consumers and nature face significant risks and losses. The Polish draft aims to minimise the marketing of patented new GMOs. However, FoE says the real issue lies in the existing patent legislation which is riddled with loopholes and fosters the power of a few agribusiness giants - Bayer, Corteva and ChemChina/Syngenta - over the food sector. Deregulation of new GMOs will not help curb these monopolies. Save our Seeds comments that the Polish presidency focuses only on the contentious issue of plant patents. It overlooks other important points, such as the need for consumer labelling, traceability, and risk assessment. Friends of the Earth Europe; Save Our Seeds, via GMWatch

 

 

The UK government has confirmed that the legislation needed to implement new GMO ("precision breeding") deregulation rules will be introduced to parliament by the end of March. However, there have been reports that EU-UK realignment talks could delay or even block plans to press ahead with the new gene editing rules in England. Farming UK

 

 

Gene-edited sea bream and tiger pufferfish which grow larger than normal by having part of their genome disrupted through gene editing are farmed in Miyazu City, Kyoto Prefecture, and other parts of Japan. Concerned civil society organisations have demanded dialogue and information disclosure from Regional Fish, the company that operates this business, but they say the company is not willing to engage in dialogue: "On the other hand, the national and local governments are giving full support to Regional Fish, which is running this project, and the company's project is about to spread across the country and even overseas." The organisations are holding a public meeting on 21 February in Tokyo to examine whether gene-edited fish can really be called safe and sustainable, to question the government and its ministries about their support for the company, and to convey citizens' voices against genome-edited fish farming. No more GM food! Campaign, OK Seed Project, Japan Consumers Federation

 

 

Our latest review, on New GMOs, is out. Don't miss out - subscribe or update your subscription for free here.GMWatch

 

We hope you’ve found this newsletter interesting. Please support our work with a one-off or regular donation. Thank you!