France’s food-safety investigative authority, ANSES, rejected a controversial study by French scientists linking Monsanto’s genetically modified (GMO) corn to an increase risk in cancer in rats; however, the agency did call for a "long-term, independent" probe into the issue to advise the public.
The findings comes just weeks after the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) ruled the paper had “insufficient scientific quality to be considered as valid for risk assessment." EFSA’s initial review, published Oct. 4, found the design, reporting and analysis of the study, as outlined in the paper, are inadequate. The agency also invited authors Séralini et al to share key additional information to enable the fullest understanding of the study.
ANSES received requests from the Ministers for Health, Ecology, Agriculture and Consumer Affairs to examine the paper on the long-term toxicity of the plant protection product Roundup and the genetically-modified, “glyphosate-ready" NK603 maize that was published in September 2012 by Séralini, et al, from the University of Caen.
In addition to the criticism already expressed by other bodies concerning the methodology, and based on the in-depth assessment by ANSES, the agency said the study’s central weakness lies in the fact that the conclusions advanced by the authors are not sufficiently supported by the data published. These data do not make it possible to scientifically establish any cause and effect relationship between consumption of the GM maize and/or the pesticide and the pathologies mentioned, nor to support the conclusions drawn by the authors or the mechanisms of action they suggest.
ANSES called for public funding on the national and European level to enable large-scale studies and research for consolidating knowledge of insufficiently documented health risks, similar to the National Toxicology Program implemented in the United States.
