India’s First GM Food Crop Inches Closer to State Approval

Genetically-modified mustard may be a step closer to becoming the first food crop in India to be approved for commercial production after a panel of scientists said it poses no risk to humans.

The oilseed “does not raise any public health or safety concerns on human beings and animals with respect to overall nutritional characteristics,” the panel said in a document posted to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change’s website. It is highly unlikely to invade natural ecosystems and poses negligible risk to biodiversity and agriculture productivity, it said. The oilseed has been developed by the University of Delhi since 2003.