EFSA Publishes Scientific Opinion on Herbicide Tolerant Oilseed Rape 73496

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) Panel on Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO Panel) has published an assessment of the outcome of its risk assessment of oilseed rape 73496 according to the scope as defined in application EFSA-GMO-NL-2012-109. Oilseed rape 73496 was developed to confer tolerance to glyphosate through the expression of the glyphosate acetyltransferase protein GAT4621.

The scope of application EFSA-GMO-NL-2012-109 is for food and feed uses, import, and processing of GM herbicide tolerant oilseed rape 73496 within the European Union (EU). According to the Scientific Opinion, the molecular characterization data do not identify issues requiring food/feed safety assessment. None of the identified differences between oilseed rape 73496 and its conventional counterpart in the agronomic/phenotypic endpoints tested needs further assessment.

The GMO Panel does not identify safety concerns regarding the toxicity and allergenicity of GAT4621 protein as expressed in oilseed rape 73496 and finds no evidence that the genetic modification would change the overall allergenicity of oilseed rape 73496. In the context of this application, the consumption of food and feed from oilseed rape 73496 does not represent a nutritional concern in humans and animals. The GMO Panel concludes that oilseed rape 73496 is as safe as its conventional counterpart and the non‐GM oilseed rape reference varieties tested.

For more details, read the scientific opinion in the EFSA Journal.