Precision Breeding and Consumer Safety: A Review of Regulations for UK Markets

Laura V. Freeland, Dylan W. Phillips and Huw D. Jones ()
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Laura V. Freeland: Natural Resources Institute, University of Greenwich, Kent ME4 4TB, UK
Dylan W. Phillips: Department of Life Sciences, Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences, Aberystwyth University, Aberystwyth SY23 3DD, UK
Huw D. Jones: Department of Life Sciences, Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences, Aberystwyth University, Aberystwyth SY23 3DD, UK

Agriculture, 2024, vol. 14, issue 8, 1-18

Abstract: Gene-edited crops and livestock have the potential to transform food systems by providing resilience to climate change, pest and disease resistance, and the enhancement of nutrients in feed and food in a time-efficient and precise way. In 2023, the UK Parliament passed the Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Bill, paving the way for gene-edited products to be farmed in England and sold, providing they could have theoretically been produced via traditional breeding. In this paper, we describe the possible risks of gene-edited products for consumption using four case studies of gene-edited organisms: increased vitamin D tomatoes, reduced linoleic acid cottonseed oil, porcine reproductive and respiratory virus (PRRSV) resistant pigs and reduced-asparagine wheat. Assuming that the only requirement for an organism to be a Precision-Bred Organism (PBO) is that no transgenic material remains within the organism and that the edit could have, in theory, occurred spontaneously or through traditional breeding methods, then all our case studies would likely be defined as PBOs. We also conclude that the food safety risks of these products appear to be similar to those that society accepts in traditionally bred organisms used for food and feed. However, PBOs that possess markedly altered nutrient profiles may require a dedicated identity-preserved retail chain and/or labelling to avoid unintended over-consumption.

Keywords: gene editing; precision-bred organism; food/feed safety (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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