EFSA Concludes GM Maize MON 95379 Safe

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) GMO Panel released its Scientific Opinion on the safety of genetically modified (GM) insect protected maize MON 95379, for import, processing, and food and feed uses within the European Union (EU) and does not include cultivation.

Following the submission of application EFSA-GMO-NL-2020-170 under Regulation (EU) No 503/2013 from Bayer Agriculture BV, the EFSA GMO Panel was asked to deliver a Scientific Opinion on the safety of GM maize MON 95379. In their Scientific Opinion, the GMO Panel reports that the molecular characterization data and bioinformatic analyses do not identify issues requiring food/feed safety assessment and that none of the identified differences in the agronomic/phenotypic and compositional characteristics tested between maize MON 95379 and its conventional counterpart needs further assessment. The GMO Panel does not identify safety concerns regarding the toxicity and allergenicity of the Cry1B.868 and Cry1Da_7 proteins as expressed in maize MON 95379 and finds no evidence that the genetic modification impacts its overall safety.

In the context of this application, food and feed from maize MON 95379 do not represent a nutritional concern in humans and animals. The GMO Panel concludes that maize MON 95379 is as safe as the conventional counterpart and non-GM maize reference varieties tested, and no post-market monitoring of food/feed is considered necessary. In the case of the accidental release of viable maize MON 95379 grains into the environment, this would not raise environmental safety concerns.

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