Food Law News - UK - 1997

14 January 1997: NOVEL FOODS - Clearance for Riboflavin Produced from GMO


MAFF Press Release, 14 January 1997

Clearance for Riboflavin Produced from GMO

The Government has accepted the advice of the Advisory Committee on Novel Foods and Processes (ACNFP) that food safety clearance should be given to riboflavin derived from genetically modified (GM) Bacillus subtilis using fermentation technology.

The B. subtilis was modified using both classical genetics to deregulate the synthesis of riboflavin and genetic modification techniques to change the regulatory sequences for the genes that code for the enzymes involved in the synthesis of riboflavin. in order to increase the yield of the vitamin.

The riboflavin (vitamin B2) which is identical to that produced by traditional chemical means, will be used to fortify processed foods such as breakfast cereals and soft drinks.

Copies of the full ACNFP report on riboflavin derived from genetically modifed (GM) Bacillus subtilis using fermentation technology are available free of charge from the ACNFP Administrative Secretariat, Ministry of Agriculture Fisheries and Food, Room 239c, Ergon House c/o Nobel House, 17 Smith Square, London SW1P 3JR.


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