By: Jet Villa, InterAksyon.com June 25, 2013 10:48 AM

Last week, the Court of Appeals stopped the genetic engineering of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) eggplants nationwide. FILE PHOTO

InterAksyon.com The online news portal of TV5

MANILA, Philippines - A week after the Court of Appeals stopped the genetic engineering of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) eggplants nationwide, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Tuesday said genetically-modified (GM) foods produced through modern biotechnology are safe.

In FDA Advisory No. 2013-014, the FDA said that all food derived from GM crops in the market have met international food standards and are as safe as and as nutritious as the food derived from conventional crops for direct use as food, feeds, and for processing.

"The FDA hereby reiterates that all GM food products derived from modern biotechnology that are currently on the market have passed food safety assessment based on the UN FAO/WHO CODEX Alimentarius Risk Analysis of Food Derived from Modern Biotechnology and Guidelines for the Conduct of Food Safety Assessment of Foods Derived from Recombinant-DNA Plants," FDA Advisory No. 2013-014 said.

The FDA said the safety of these specific GM crops should be assessed on a case-by-case basis, following the CODEX Alimentarius guidelines for determining their safety, including toxicity, allergenicity, and nutritional quality, or assessment of any nutritional claim.

"It is not possible to make general statements on the safety of all GM foods. As the national competent authority, the FDA supports the robust science-based evaluation system of CODEX Alimentarius Commission using data and information from field trials as well as laboratory tests," the FDA said.

"For processed food, the main focus of food safety review is on the objective characteristics of the product and on any health or nutritional claims. The focus of evaluation is on the food product and not on the technology used to produce the product," it said.

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Genetically-modified foods produced through modern biotechnology are safe - FDA

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