Abstract

At the request of the Board of the National Institute of Public Health and Environmental Protection, the Institute working party "Toxicology of Biotechnological Products" made an inventory on the issue of consumers safety of food products prepared with new biotechnological techniques (recombinant-DNA, cell fusion, micro-injection, etc.). The potential oral toxicity of these food products and their interrelated health risks are considered. A distinction is drawn between four fields of attention: vegetable food products, food products of animal origin, starter cultures/microbially prepared food products, and finally enzyme preparations used in the preparation of food products.