Australia and New Zealand
March 26, 2020

Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) is calling for comment on an Application to allow food from a new type of genetically modified corn line in the Food Standards Code.
 
FSANZ CEO Mark Booth said the corn line has been genetically modified to be resistant to a range of herbicides.  
 
“When assessing any Applications to approve a new food or ingredients, our number one priority is making sure it’s safe and doesn’t pose a risk to the health of Australian and New Zealand consumers.”
 
“FSANZ undertook a full safety assessment which looked at the transferred genetic material, its stability, novel protein in the food, as well as the composition of the food and an evaluation of intended and unintended changes.
 
“FSANZ found that the corn derived from this GM line is as safe as traditional non-GM corn,” Mr Booth said.
 
The GM corn is intended to be used in products such as starch, grits, meal, flour, oil and sweeteners (corn syrups).
 
Any foods made from this product must be labelled as ‘genetically modified’ where novel DNA and/or protein is present in the final food.
 
The period for comment closes 6:00pm (Canberra time) 21 May 2020.

All FSANZ decisions are notified to ministers responsible for food regulation who can request a review of the decision. 

More information

• Application A1192 Food derived from herbicide-tolerant corn line MON874
• Information about how to make a submission
• GM Foods

Website: http://www.foodstandards.gov.au

Published: March 26, 2020