Genetically Engineered Foods : Assessing Potential Allergenicity, Proceedings of a December 5-6, 2000 Conference

Advances in biotechnology have the potential to bring foods containing proteins derived from genes of non-food origin into the marketplace. In 1996, the International Food Biotechnology Council and the ILSI Allergy and Immunology Institute jointly developed a decision-tree approach based on available data, and recommended that several factors be considered, including the primary amino acid sequences and physiochemical properties of proteins derived from non-food sources compared with those of known allergens. To evaluate whether more contemporary research findings can be incorporated into the decision tree, the National Center for Food Safety and Technology organized a symposium in December 2000 to summarize the current understanding of food allergy and food allergens. In this volume, international experts from academia, government and industry review the issues important in assessing the potential allergenicity of genetically engineered foods. The authors comment on the contemporary decision tree, discuss alternative testing methods and recommend directions for future research.