Nutritional assessment of feeds from genetically modified organism

In addition to feed safety assessment, including safety for consumers, anim als and environment nutritional assessment of feeds produced using recombin ant DNA techniques is necessary and should be considered as an essential pa rt of safety assessment. Therefore we need effective systems to assess GMO' s in feedstuffs from the nutritional point of view. In 1997 we started a pr ogramme to assess GMO's of the so - called first generation including Bt-ma ize, Pat-maize, Pat-sugar beets and Gt-soyabeans. Digestion and feeding experiments were carried out with broilers (Bt-maize) , layers (Bt-maize, Pat-maize), pigs (Bt-maize, Pat-maize, Pal-sugar beet, soyabeans), sheep (Bt-maize silage, Pat-maize silage), growing bulls (Bt-ma ize silage) and fistulated cows (Bt-maize silage). Up to now, no significan t differences in nutritional assessment between feeds from isogenic and tra nsgenic plants of the first generation were found. The so-called substantia l equivalence of transgenic hybrids could be demonstrated. Recombinant plan t DNA constructs were not detected in animal tissue samples. Proposals for nutritional assessment of GMO including starch for unexpected (unintended) effects and aspects of safety assessment are discussed in the paper.