EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The European Commission has pushed back a decision on whether to permit three genetically modified crops, saying that additional scientific analysis on their effects on the environment and human health was needed before they could be approved. One of the crops is a potato that produces extra starch - suitable for industrial uses and animal feed - and contains a gene that confers resistance to certain antibiotics, and the other two are maize varieties engineered to produce their own pesticide. The commission asked its in-house food safety analysts, the European Food Safety Agency, to once again review the three strains - the third time it has requested EFSA review these particular crops. In its previous assessments of the two GM maize varieties, EFSA stated that both varieties were safe. "The commission will adopt these decisions if and when EFSA has confirmed the safety of these products," said commission spokesperson Johanes Laitenberger
Frank Delaney ~ Ireland
