欧盟食品安全局发表关于转基因生物可能的致敏性评估的科学意见

    我们导读：欧盟食品安全局（EFSA)转基因生物（GMO）专家组已经采用了来自各方的意见，并发布了评估转基因植物和微生物源性食品及饲料的致敏性风险和应对策略的科学意见。这份科学意见是欧盟食品安全局所做的持续努力的一部分，长久以来欧盟食品安全局一直致力于确保其风险评估总是反映最新的科学发展以及可解决最广范围内的潜在问题。

    本次公众咨询为期十周，收到了17个相关团体的181份意见，这些团体包括：国家评估机构、非政府组织、商业协会、大学以及个人。评论主要讨论了如何实现转基因生物的致敏性评估的一般方法，以及如何在舆论中解释。有些意见还涉及更多的技术方面，意见请见本文下方的第二个链接。

    转基因食品和饲料可能含有新的或现存的可能导致人与动物的食物过敏的蛋白。因此，欧盟法律规定，转基因生物食品和转基因生物源性饲料须进行致敏性评估，才可以投放市场。

    食品安全局的转基因生物专家组开始此项工作以便审查和更新用于评估转基因植物及微生物致敏潜在可能的方法。在发布的意见中，小组的结论是：由于没有一个统一的测试可以用来评估基因改造食品或饲料，只能对案例逐一评估，根据证据权重的方法是检测致敏性最恰当的。

    意见中，专家小组介绍了如何分析的蛋白质序列，以确定它是否可能与已知过敏原相似；如何测试蛋白质可能与特异性抗体结合（暗示它们可能会引发过敏性反应）；以及如何评估消化过程中蛋白质的分解。除了评估新的蛋白质，小组建议，除了已知含有过敏源的农作物，所有转基因植物都需进行致敏性测试。

  欧洲食品安全局于7月29日发布的两篇相关科技文献：

• 转基因植物微生物源性食品及饲料的致敏性评估的科学意见
• 对“转基因植物微生物源性食品及饲料的致敏性评估的科学意见”公众咨询意见的结果

原文报道：

EFSA’s Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) Panel has adopted a scientific opinion on strategies for assessing the risk of allergenicity of GM plants and microorganisms and derived food and feed. This opinion is part of EFSA’s ongoing effort to ensure that its risk assessment always reflects the latest scientific developments and addresses the widest range of potential concerns. Recommendations in the opinion are provided to update and complement EFSA’s allergenicity assessment of GM plants and microorganisms and derived food and feed.

The final opinion takes into consideration a total of 181 comments, received during a 10-week public consultation, from 17 interested parties including: national assessment bodies, non-governmental organisations, business associations and universities, as well as individuals. Comments mostly addressed the issue of how to implement the general approach for assessing the allergenicity of GMOs, as well as how to interpret the results of the methods discussed in the opinion. Some comments also covered more technical aspects and are addressed in a series of specific annexes to the opinion.

GM food and feed could contain quantities of new or existing proteins which might cause food allergies in people and animals. EU legislation therefore requires that the allergenicity of GMOs and food and feed derived from GMOs be assessed before they can be placed on the market.

EFSA’s GMO Panel initiated this work in order to review and update current methodologies used to assess the allergenic potential of GM plants and microorganisms. In its opinion, the Panel concludes that, as there is no single test to assess the allergenicity of a GM food or feed, a case-by-case evaluation based on a weight-of-evidence approach is the most appropriate way to do this.

In the opinion, the Panel describes how to analyse the sequence of the proteins in order to identify possible similarities with known allergens; how to test the potential of the proteins to bind with specific antibodies (suggesting they could trigger an allergic reaction); and how to assess the breakdown of the protein during digestion. In addition to assessing the new protein, the Panel recommends that for crops known to be allergenic, the whole GM plant is tested for allergenicity.