Essentially, a GMO food is one derived from an organism that has had some of its heritable traits changed.

Essentially, a GMO food is one derived from an organism that has had some of its heritable traits changed.

Liao signaled at the conference that in the next five years a GM corn variety could become the first approved GM staple food in the country.

The new GM food is thus compared to the traditional food, and any difference between the two is evaluated;

The concept of substantial equivalence is used as a guide in the safety assessment of genetically modified foods by comparing the novel food to its unmodified counterpart which has a history of safe use.

The concept of substantial equivalence is used as a guide in the safety assessment of a GM-food by comparing the novel food to its unmodified counterpart which has a history of safe use.

This is the most-in-depth study ever conducted on a GM food and related pesticides (12).

This is the most-in-depth study ever conducted on a GM food and related pesticides (12).

The decision to approve or not approve introduction of a GM food and the need for labelling should therefore be based on a rigorous scientific rationale.

The comparator is usually a traditional crop/food or other edible variety from the same species from which that GM crop/food was developed and preferably the direct parental line (Kuiper et al., 2004).

Under the Food and Drugs Act, mandatory labelling would be required for a GM-food where there was a concern regarding allergenicity.

If Health Canada evaluators find that any of the information provided about a GM food is insufficient, further documentation is requested from the proponent of the submission.

Because existing food crops are recognized as safe, the logical starting point for safety assessment of a GM food is to ask ‘what’s different?

It is a seven to ten year process to research, develop, test and assess the safety of a new GM food.

It generally takes seven to 10 years to research, develop and test a new GM food.