“The purpose of the food safety assessment is to ensure that products such as Golden Rice are safe for consumption if or when they become present in the Canadian food supply. Health Canada is required by law (i.e., the Food and Drug Regulations) to assess all novel food applications when a notification is filed with the Department.

The Department’s top priority when performing these mandatory assessments is the health and safety of Canadians.

The assessment of Golden Rice determined the safety of this rice variety relative to its conventional counterparts; it did not evaluate the efficacy of Golden Rice to treat vitamin A deficiency in affected populations. Intrinsic food supplementation (i.e., biofortification) is one possible approach to address specific nutritional deficiencies that exist in certain populations. This is a subject of discussion by the Codex Committee on Nutrition and Foods for Special Dietary Uses (CCNFSDU) of which Health Canada is a regular participant.

Matters related to the economic, social and environmental impacts of genetically modified products in foreign countries fall outside the authority of Health Canada.” Click here to see the full letter.

Health Canada previously responded (February 1, 2018) that:

“Health Canada’s science-based regulatory system for novel foods is internationally recognized and developers often choose to seek authorization in Canada as a first step in their regulatory plan even if they do not plan to sell the product in Canada.” Click here to see the full letter.