Australia’s food regulator has called for submissions as it reviews a genetically-modified potato designed to produce less chemicals when fried.
United States authorities approved the potato, called Innate, for growing and processing last year [and Canada gave its green light in May 2016].
Produced by Simplot, SPC International, it has been transformed by genetic modification (GM) to reduce a by-product chemical called acrylamide, which has been linked to cancer in laboratory animals.
Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) has given the public until the end of September to make a submission.
FSANZ will then complete its review and make a recommendation to the Federal Government next year.
The authority has already assessed the potato as “safe” in testing, where a russet burbank potato was used in testing.
“The DNA that has been added is from the potato itself, or from a closely-related potato species,” FSANZ chief executive Steve McCutcheon said.
“There are no new proteins that have been introduced. It’s reducing the expression of four of the potato’s own genes.”
The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion and analysis. Read full, original post: Food regulator reviewing GM potato for use within Australia
