Canadian health regulator Health Canada has published a fresh set of guidelines on gene-edited crops. The new instructions cover gene-edited crops that meet the criteria set for food that is not considered novel food could be treated the same way as conventional crops. That would mean they would not be required to go through the pre-market safety evaluation applied for genetically modified crops.
Health Canada notes that past interpretations of the rules have not considered whether breeding methods used for plant development are characterised as safe while determining whether pre-market notification and assessment requirements were applicable for food items.
Therefore, it lays down five categories that are to be exempted from requirements set aside for novel foods. These include foods derived from GM plants that: do not alter an endogenous protein in a manner that introduces or increases similarity with a known allergen or toxin relevant to human health; do not increase levels of a known endogenous allergen, a known endogenous toxin, or a known endogenous anti-nutrient beyond documented ranges; do not have an impact on key nutritional composition and/or metabolism; do not intentionally change the food use of the plant; and do not result in presence of foreign DNA in the final plant product.
