Engineered Foods Allowed on the Market

Notes

1. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) determined that all crops listed above were not plant pests under the Federal Plant Pest Act and allowed the crops to be grown at commercial scale.

2. Bt crops, in addition to USDA regulation, were approved by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act and the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.

3. Except for sulfonyluria-resistant flax, EPA registered the herbicide for use on the herbicide-resistant crop. However, the engineered crops themselves were not subject to EPA review. Sulfonylurea-resistant flax was the exception because the herbicide is not to be sprayed on the crop. Rather, the engineered flax is to be planted only in soils containing sulfonylurea residues.

4. Although not required, all products were the subject of voluntary consultations with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) about food safety. FDA required labeling of two products—canola and soybean with altered oils—because the agency considered the oils to be significantly different from nonengineered canola and soy oil. The required labels do not divulge that the oils were obtained from genetically engineered crops.

5. The chart lists only the first crop with a particular engineered trait that each company develops. Subsequent varieties allowed on the market with that trait are not listed.

6. The chart lists trade names or company designations for crops at the time they finished the regulatory process. Once a crop is commercialized and licensed to other companies, it may be sold under many other names.

7. Not all crops allowed on the market are currently for sale. Engineered crops such as the FlavrSavr tomato and StarLink corn may no longer be available commercially.

8. Many crops are not allowed on the market but are legally grown in field tests. Information Systems for Biotechnology provides a database of these crops.

Sources:

USDA web sites for all applications to grow genetically engineered crops and for petitions for crops of nonregulated status.

EPA web site on biopesticides.

FDA web site on bioengineered foods, communications with agency staff and company representatives, Federal Register notices, and agency documents on individual crops.