More than 400 million people, half of which are children, suffer from malnutrition. To overcome this issue, public and private institutions are improving the nutritional quality of crops by using both conventional breeding and genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Sound science and safety assessments must be streamlined to ensure swift adoption of these improved crops to a hungry world.

A task force of scientific experts was assembled by the International Life Sciences Institute (ILSI), a nonprofit, worldwide organization whose mission is to provide science that improves human health and well-being and safeguards the environment. The authors used five case studies of crops with improved nutritional value to determine if the recommendations made by the task force are a valid approach for assessing the safety and nutritional benefit of foods and feeds from these improved crops. They conclude that the comparative safety assessment process, including the type of testing and extent of data, is a scientifically-valid approach. The full journal article can be accessed here: bit.ly/2eV9klT