Folmer Damsted Eriksen

Risk management and risk assessment of novel plant foods: concepts and principles.

Worldwide 30 food plants deliver 95% of human daily intake of plant food calories and around 300 other plant species are delivering the last 5%. These some 300 food plants are likely to be considered traditional in Europe, while the nearly 7000 other plant species traditionally used in the human food supply in other parts of the world may be considered novel in Europe. Novel food regulation is already in force in the European Community, Australia/New Zealand and in Canada where the novel plant foods need to go through a premarket assessment procedure. This paper propose criteria and definitions to be used in determining novelty of a plant food and also propose a safety assessment approach for novel plant food with no or limited documented history of safe consumption. A 2-step management procedure is recommended for a smooth introduction of fruits and vegetables; first to establish the novelty and second to define and commit resources for the safety assessment. The procedure builds upon the use of a worldwide network of global, regional, local and ethnobotanical positive lists for food plants to guide the decision on novelty at the first step and to enable the safety assessment at the second step.

First successful reduction of clinical allergenicity of food by genetic modification: Mal d 1 silenced apples cause fewer allergy symptoms than the wild-type cultivar

Genetic modification of allergenic foods such as apple has the potential to reduce their clinical allergenicity, but this has never been studied by oral challenges in allergic individuals.

Development of hypo-allergenic apples: silencing of the major allergen Mal d 1 gene in "Elstar" apple and the effect of grafting

Summary Many people who are allergic to birch pollen are also allergic to apple fruit, due to cross- allergenicity. Since apples are the most extensively consumed fruit in Europe, it is highly relevant to develop a hypo-allergenic apple.Apples with significantly reduced levels of the allergen, Mal d 1, may allow many apple allergics to eat them without an allergic reaction. We are currently collaborating to develop a hypo-allergenic apple within the European Integrated Research Project, ISAFRUIT (www.isafruit.org). Hypo-allergenic apple plants (Malus × domestica Borkh., ‘Elstar’) with decreased levels of Mal d 1 mRNA were produced by RNA interference (RNAi) technology. Ten genetically modified (GM) apple lines were selected. In vitro plantlets were first transferred to a greenhouse, then grafted onto wild-type M.9 rootstock to promote the development of fruit-producing trees. Levels of Mal d 1 gene silencing were measured repeatedly by quantitative real-time PCR. Compared to leaf samples from wild-type ‘Elstar’, two GM lines showed modest levels of gene silencing (up to 250-fold), whereas the other eight GM lines were significantly silenced (up to10,000-fold) in Mal d 1 gene expression. These levels of silencing were unaffected by grafting, and have been stable over more than 3 years, and throughout all developmental stages.

Risk assessment and risk management of novel plant foods: Concepts and principles

Novel food regulation is already in force in the European Community, Australia/New Zealand and in Canada. These regulations distinguish between traditional plant foods and novel plant foods, as the ...

Information on plant foods in eBASIS: what is in a correct botanical scientific name?

This paper presents the plant information included in the eBASIS (BioActive Substances in Foods Information System) database on composition and biological activity of selected bioactive compounds from European plant/mushroom foods with putative beneficial and/or toxic effects. The European Food Information Resource (EuroFIR)-NETTOX Plant List (2007) presents scientific and vernacular names in 15 European languages for around 325 major European plant/mushroom foods and also for different parts of these foods. This list and its predecessor, the NETTOX List of Food Plants, have been used by national food authorities and within the European Union for consideration of plants and mushrooms that have been used to a significant degree up to 1997 and are therefore not covered by the novel food regulation (European Parliament and Council of the European Union, 1997). The species and the plant part studied are insufficiently characterised in many scientific papers. This paper informs about the naming of plants and mushrooms as an aid for scientists who are not botanists or mycologists themselves. Knowledge on scientific names used, including synonyms, may also be important for finding all relevant papers when searching the literature. In many cases, vernacular/trivial names in, for example, English do not uniquely identify the species. Finally, recommendations are given to assist researchers and reviewers of papers dealing with botanical/mycological information.

Safety evaluation of plants collected from the wild served as food in Danish restaurants

DTU Orbit (03/08/2019) Safety evaluation of plants collected from the wild served as food in Danish restaurants Within the last decade the New Nordic Cuisine has received much media coverage. The restaurants have focused on increased use of locally grown plant food, including wild plants collected from the countryside. In addition, many cookbooks and guided nature walks have assisted interested consumers in the search for wild plants for culinary purposes. As part of a control campaign running from May–October 2016, the Danish food authorities investigated the use of plants picked from the wild, cultivated in private gardens or market gardens in restaurants and local food producers. Here we present examples of safety evaluations of some of the 50 plant species identified from this campaign based on published phytochemical investigations and toxicological data in humans. In the period from February to October, 2017, searches were performed in databases on bibliographic information using the preferred scientific name, and if relevant also synonyms. The full scientific papers were obtained if abstracts described ethnobotanical studies on food use in European countries prior to 15 May 1997 (the date the first novel food regulation came into force), constituents (especially if toxicological relevant), experimental laboratory animal studies on the toxicological effects of the plants, or cases of intoxications in humans or animals exposed to the individual plants. For the majority of the plants no or very limited phytochemical and safety information were available. Additionally, we found that of the 50 plants reviewed almost half contained compounds with toxic or potentially toxic effects if eaten. For many of the remaining plants, the data was insufficient to establish a safe edible amount. Many of the species may be considered novel food according to the EU regulation, since a food use to a significant degree in EU member states prior to 15 May 1997 could not be established. This review has demonstrated a strong need for better information on novel food status and safety of plants picked from the wild or plants previously mainly cultivated e.g. for ornamental use but now introduced as food, so that food producers, chefs and writers of cookbooks also in future have a stronger attention on whether the plants are safe to eat.

Are wild and cultivated flowers served in restaurants or sold by local producers in Denmark safe for the consumer

New Nordic Food has within the last decade received much media coverage with chefs of top restaurants using wild plants for foods. As part of a control campaign, the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration visited 150 restaurants and local food producers from May-October 2016 and investigated their use of plants picked from the wild, cultivated in private gardens or market gardens. Among the species used were the flowers from 23 plants. Here we present a safety evaluation of these flowers based on published phytochemical investigations and toxicological data in humans, farm animals, pets, or experimental animals. Of the 23 flowers reviewed, nine contained compounds with toxic or potentially toxic effects if eaten, two contained unidentified toxic compound(s), and four were flowers from plants with potentially toxic compounds present in other plant parts or related species. Many of the flowers may be considered novel, since a use to a significant degree in Europe prior to 15 May 1997 before Regulation (EC) 258/97 on novel food and novel food ingredients came into force could not be established. In conclusion, this review illuminates a striking lack of chemical and toxicological data of many of the proposed wild or cultivated flowers for food use.