ol Year: 0000 Type: MEDLINE Literature: oryza Field: abstract Doc ID: pub00000000 Accession (PMID): 00000000 Matching Sentences: [ Sen. 0, subscore: 0.00 ]: In this report the various elements of the safety and nutritional assessment procedure for genetically modified ( GM ) plant derived food and feed are discussed , in particular the potential and limitations of animal feeding trials for the safety and nutritional testing of whole GM food and feed . The general principles for the risk assessment of GM plants and derived food and feed are followed , as described in the EFSA guidance document of the EFSA Scientific Panel on Genetically Modified Organisms . In Section 0 the mandate , scope and general principles for risk assessment of GM plant derived food and feed are discussed . Products under consideration are food and feed derived from GM plants , such as maize , soybeans , oilseed rape and cotton , modified through the introduction of one or more genes coding for agronomic input traits like herbicide tolerance and/or insect resistance . Furthermore GM plant derived food and feed , which have been obtained through extensive genetic modifications targeted at specific alterations of metabolic pathways leading to improved nutritional and/or health characteristics , such as rice containing beta-carotene , soybeans with enhanced oleic acid content , or tomato with increased concentration of flavonoids , are considered . The safety assessment of GM plants and derived food and feed follows a comparative approach , ie the food and feed are compared with their non-GM counterparts in order to identify intended and unintended ( unexpected ) differences which subsequently are assessed with respect to their potential impact on the environment , safety for humans and animals , and nutritional quality . Key elements of the assessment procedure are the molecular , compositional , phenotypic and agronomic analysis in order to identify similarities and differences between the GM plant and its near isogenic counterpart . The safety assessment is focussed on ( i ) the presence and characteristics of newly expressed proteins and other new constituents and possible changes in the level of natural constituents beyond normal variation , and on the characteristics of the GM food and feed , and ( ii ) the possible occurrence of unintended ( unexpected ) effects in GM plants due to genetic modification . In order to identify these effects a comparative phenotypic and molecular analysis of the GM plant and its near isogenic counterpart is carried out , in parallel with a targeted analysis of single specific compounds , which represent important metabolic pathways in the plant like macro and micro nutrients , known anti-nutrients and toxins . Significant differences may be indicative of the occurrence of unintended effects , which require further investigation . Section 0 provides an overview of studies performed for the safety and nutritional assessment of whole food and feed . 