Food Standards Australia New Zealand

• More specifically, users are seeking help with menu planning to meet their personal dietary goals.
• In a consumer poll, over three out of five consumers agreed they would like to eat a healthier diet.
• Against this background, it’s clear that help is required to achieve the transformational shift from goals to behaviour.
• With concern also raised for consuming purported healthy ingredients such as coconut oil, it is extremely important that nutrition experts help inform these technological solutions.

How can AI help?

• Academics in Canada used specific types of AI, known as natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning, to process text on food labels.
• This work showed that technology could be used to reduce the time needed to manually categorise large numbers of food products.
• AI chatbots such as Chat GPT use this technology to synthesise information, summarise text and answer questions.

Chatbot test

• For example, there were mistakes in the way food quantities and energy values were described and there was repetition of the same foods within menu plans.
• In a review of ChatGPT’s potential for personalised obesity treatment, the authors raised concerns about patient privacy and security.
• The chatbot responded with foods that would not be optimal for these conditions, without any warnings.
• He felt the answers misinterpreted the research studies, repeatedly producing errors and inconsistencies in a tone described as sensible, confident and convincing.

Ethical implications

• The ethical implications, safety and quality of the technology will need to be more fully understood before it is likely to be used within these professions.
• Academics investigating the relationship between food and health could also use AI to save time or develop innovative approaches to their research.
• Policy makers, regulators and those working in the food industry are very interested in the health and sustainability of food.
• The response to it will be crucial for ensuring the accurate, safe and transparent communication of dietary advice.

• Advances in genetic engineering have given rise to an era of foods – including genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and gene-edited foods – that promise to revolutionise the way we eat.
• What are GMOs and gene-edited foods?

GMOs and gene-edited foods aren’t the same

• GMOs are organisms whose genetic material has been artificially altered by inserting a piece of foreign DNA.
• Gene editing involves making precise changes to an organism’s genome without the integration of foreign DNA elements.
• Although GMOs and gene-edited foods have been in circulation for almost three decades, research in this space continues to deliver breakthroughs.

What are the concerns?

• GMOs are mainly used to produce crops that are herbicide-resistant or produce pesticides.
• Farmers can then use herbicides on those crops to control weeds more effectively, without the plants themselves dying.
• People raise concerns over potential long-term health impacts, impacts on biodiversity and ecosystems, and the increased corporate control over agriculture.

Is genetic modification itself unsafe?

• Even among experts with genome-sequencing information, most have only one or a few sequenced “reference” varieties, and these often aren’t the same as the plants we eat.
• The fact is, we don’t really understand the genomes of many plants and animals we eat.
• Moreover, there’s currently no evidence regulator-approved GMOs or gene-edited foods aren’t safe for human consumption.

GMOs and gene-edited foods are widespread

• Due to inconsistent rules about labelling GMOs and gene-edited foods around the world, many consumers may not realise they’re already eating them.
• Historically, chymosin was extracted from young cow stomachs, but in the 1990s scientists managed to genetically engineer a bacterium to synthesise it.
• GMOs and gene-edited cereal and oilseed products are also widely used in stockfeeds.
• A simple gene edit can help inhibit the browning oxidation reaction, leading to a longer shelf-life and less food waste.

Regulation in Australia and New Zealand

• In Australia, the Office of the Gene Technology Regulator regulates GMOs.
• Gene-edited foods can be cultivated without any regulatory restrictions or labelling in Australia.
• Divergent definitions have led the bi-national agency Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) to adopt a cautious approach, regulating gene-edited foods and feeds as GMOs.

Responsible research

Both GMOs and gene-edited foods offer great promise. Of course there are valid concerns, such as the potential to create new allergens, unintended consequences for ecosystems, and growing corporate control over food. But these can be addressed through responsible research and regulatory frameworks. Ultimately, the development of future foods must be guided by a commitment to sustainability, social justice and scientific rigour.

• Bioceres Crop Solutions Corp. (Bioceres) (NASDAQ: BIOX), a fully integrated provider of crop productivity solutions designed to enable the transition of agriculture towards carbon neutrality, has reported financial results for the third quarter 2022, ended March 31, 2022.
• Financial results are expressed in US dollars and are presented in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards.
• Growth in all product categories of the Crop Protection segment combined with continued momentum in micro-beaded fertilizers sales lead to record-high fiscal third quarter sales.
• Mr. Enrique Lopez Lecube, Bioceres Chief Financial Officer, added, Following a solid performance in the first half of our fiscal 2022, this third quarter brought record-high sales.