President Donald Trump has reportedly signed an executive order that directs federal agencies to simplify the path to regulatory approval for genetically modified organisms (GMOs). The order also apparently recommends that trading partners should be urged to take similar approaches to regulating GMOs.
Tag Archives GMO
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has announced proposed revisions to its regulations regarding "the movement (importation, interstate movement, and environmental release) of certain genetically modified organisms" (GMOs). The proposal, "the first comprehensive revision of the regulations since they were established in 1987," would adjust how the agency handles permits for plants created as a result of genetic engineering (GE). "While the current regulations have been effective in ensuring the safe introduction of GE organisms during the past 30 years, advances in genetic engineering have occurred since they were promulgated," the announcement states. "APHIS has now accumulated three decades of experience in evaluating GE organisms for plant pest risk. The Agency's evaluations to date have provided evidence that genetically engineering a plant with a plant pest as a vector, vector agent, or donor does not in and of itself result in a GE plant…
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has announced an April 25, 2019, public webinar about "genome editing in animals, an innovative and rapidly evolving technology that offers significant public health benefits." The webinar will focus on "current scientific evidence, promising uses of this technology in animals, and the potential risks." FDA intends the webinar to help "those using genome editing to develop animals with genomic alterations," but registration is open to the public.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has deactivated an import alert that prevented the introduction of genetically engineered (GE) salmon into interstate commerce. The agency's statement indicates that it placed the ban in 2016 with the intention of lifting it when standards for labeling GE food were finalized. With the implementation of the National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard in late 2018, the authority to regulate GE food shifted to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), according to the statement, so the import ban deactivation will remove barriers for USDA regulation. "With the deactivation of the import alert, AquAdvantage Salmon eggs can now be imported to the company’s contained grow-out facility in Indiana to be raised into salmon for food. As was determined during the FDA’s 2015 review, this fish is safe to eat, the genetic construct added to the fish’s genome is safe for the animal, and the manufacturer’s…
A study in Nature Human Behavior has reportedly found that Americans who oppose the cultivation of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) believe themselves to be highly informed on the subject but lack knowledge of it. Fernbach et al., "Extreme opponents of genetically modified foods know the least but think they know the most," Nature Human Behavior, January 14, 2019. A survey of 501 Americans asked true/false questions about GMO technology and asked participants about their willingness to eat GMO foods, likelihood of participation in protests against them and belief in the necessity of GMO regulation. The researchers reportedly found that "as extremity of opposition to and concern about genetically modified foods increases, objective knowledge about science and genetics decreases, but perceived understanding of genetically modified foods increases."
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA's) Agricultural Marketing Service has released the final National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard (NBFDS), which will require food manufacturers, importers and other entities to indicate on a product's label whether it was made with genetically modified organisms (GMOs). The rule applies to food products in which the predominant ingredient is subject to the federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act; "[a] multi-ingredient food product that contains broth, stock, water, or similar solution as the first ingredient, and a meat, poultry, or egg product as the second ingredient on the food label would also not be subject to the NBFDS," according to the announcement. The rule takes effect February 19, 2019, and mandatory compliance with the rule begins on January 1, 2022.
The Associated Press has detailed the efforts of Recombinetics, a company that develops genetically engineered (GE) animals, to seek regulatory and public approval of its work. The company CEO reportedly told the news outlet that it aims to assuage fears about GE animals by focusing on how they can help ease animal pain, such as breeding cows without horns so that farmers can stop removing the horns to keep the cows from harming each other. This approach has apparently led to some support among animal-welfare groups; the Humane Society of the United States supports GE pigs bred to no longer require castration, AP reports, although the organization does not give "blanket approval" for the technology. "If you edit for your chicken to be the size of an elephant, that's not good," the organization's vice president of farm animal protection reportedly said.
A Pew Research Center poll has reportedly found that Americans are "of two minds about food additives" because about half "say the average person faces a serious health risk from food additives over their lifetime (51%) while the other half believes the average person is exposed to potentially threatening additives in such small amounts that there is no serious risk (48%)." The poll also found that 49 percent of respondents believed genetically modified (GM) foods to be "worse for one's health than non-GM foods, while 44% say such foods are neither better nor worse and 5% say they are better for one's health." Pew reports that it found "an inverse relationship between how much people know about science generally, based on a nine-item index of factual knowledge, and their beliefs about the health risk of foods with additives as well as GM foods. People with low science knowledge tend to…
U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Scott Gottlieb has issued a statement announcing the agency's Plant and Animal Biotechnology Innovation Action Plan. Gottlieb describes the plan as identifying priorities in three areas: (i) "advancing human and animal health by promoting product innovation and applying modern, efficient and risk-based regulatory pathways;" (ii) "strengthening public outreach and communication regarding the FDA’s approach to innovative plant and animal biotechnology;" and (iii) "increasing engagement with domestic and international partners on biotechnology issues." The plan indicates that FDA will "adopt a comprehensive policy framework for the development and regulatory oversight of animal biotechnology products, including for intentionally genetically altered animals and the food and drug products derived from them." The statement also announced that the agency's Center for Veterinary Medicine will host a webinar on genome editing in animals on December 3, 2018.
A California federal court has granted class certification to a group of consumers alleging that Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. misrepresented its food as made without genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Schneider v. Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc., No. 16-2200 (N.D. Cal., entered September 29, 2018). Chipotle has faced a number of similar suits, but other iterations have been dismissed. The court found that the plaintiffs met each of the requirements for class certification, rejecting Chipotle's argument that each class member may have seen significantly different marketing messages. "Plaintiffs rely primarily on the advertisements and statements issued and installed in all of Chipotle's stores," the court found, noting that three advertisements supported the plaintiffs' claims. "Based on Plaintiffs’ theory that 'reasonable consumers understood Non-GMO to include meat and dairy ingredients that were not sourced from animals fed GM feed,' [] the Court finds that the representations made on these three in-store signs are…
