ABSTRACT
Novel foods may be derived from microorganisms, higher plants, or animals. Novel foods can involve using a microorganism not used before in food preparation or a new process that has not been applied before in food preparation. Safety-assessment procedures of novel foods of plant origin will therefore need to focus on the natures of the host plant, of the modification procedure, and of the modified plants in terms of the stability of gene expression and inheritance and of its general phenotypic characteristics. The development of new strains of food plants has been directed principally towards increasing yields and minimizing losses, but increased resistance against plant diseases has also been sought. Conventional breeding of food-producing animals has proven useful in modifying their characteristics and increasing their output both from a qualitative and a quantitative point of view. For a single, biochemically defined food ingredient, substantial equivalence means biochemical identity within the limits of natural diversity of the traditional counterpart of commerce.
