Genetically Modified Plants and Food Allergenicity

The use of genetic engineering in the production of agricultural products and the change of genetic material of living organisms through the transfer of genes from one organism to another, has led to the increasing development of genetically modified foods. This has increased the efficiency of food production, but on the other hand, the introduction of genetically modified foods into the human food chain has raised concerns about the potential dangers of producing and consuming such substances and raised many questions about the possibilities. The occurrence of adverse effects such as food allergies, increased resistance to antibiotics, destructive environmental effects and horizontal transmission of genes in the community has been raised. The first genetically engineered food product (tomato) was introduced in 1996, followed by corn, soybeans, cotton, canola, potatoes, papaya, alfalfa, squash, and sugar beet with specific genetic traits that were successfully developed and commercialized. Biosafety is a set of measures, policies, regulations and methods to ensure that the benefits of new biotechnology are exploited and the possible effects of its application on biodiversity, human health, livestock, plants and the environment are prevented. Even though the safety of any new transgenic product is assessed before commercialization by various regulatory authorities around the world, the general debate about the food safety and allergenicity of transgenic plants and the feed from these plants has not diminished. There are methods to evaluate the safety and allergenic potential of transgenic products. The purpose of this article is to evaluate the allergenic potential of transgenic plants based on scientific articles and authoritative Codex sources in this field.