5. A New Approach to Assessing the Safety of Genetically Modified Organisms

5.1 Substantive equivalence: a comparative approach

The rationale behind the comparative approach between a food derived from a GMO and the same food derived from a non-genetically modified plant is based on the observation that the traditional varieties from which GMOs are derived are generally recognized as safe for human health due to their often long history of consumption—this is the concept of "history of safe use" in the Anglo-Saxon world . The appropriate comparator must be as isogenic as possible to the genetically modified product, that is, it must have a genetic makeup as similar as possible, with the exception of the newly introduced traits. Due to the complexity of foods, the objective of the comparison is to ensure the same level of safety as that...