The Institute of Food Science and Technology have published (here – open access) a new fact sheet on food crime and how to avoid becoming a victim. IFST factsheets are intended to explain food science topics to consumers and small businesses in clear, concise terms. This factsheet covers the types of potential food fraud, typical red flags that should raise warning signs, and confidential reporting lines if people have concerns. It supplements and cross-references advice given by national regulatory agencies.
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A new POSTnote on genome edited food crops has been published by the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology with contributions from Dr Malcolm Burns (Head of LGC's GMO unit), Dr Julian Braybrook and our Executive Director, Selvarani Elahi MBE.
◼ The Government is proposing that genomeedited crop plants are exempted from Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) regulations, provided the genetic changes could occur naturally or via existing conventional breeding techniques.
◼ Genome editing can manipulate DNA atspecific positions in the genome to shorten timeframes for plant breeding of useful traits. This process can lead to unintended alterations of the genome, but these may be fewer than for conventional breeding.
◼ Some stakeholders believe this regulation change for genome-edited food crops could provide health and environmental benefits and make use of UK-funded research.
◼ Key issues for public acceptance and trust of genome-edited crops are tightly bound to transparency and how the public view potential risks and benefits.
Read the full POSTnote.
