{"id":240394,"date":"2019-12-18T22:22:03","date_gmt":"2019-12-19T03:22:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=240394"},"modified":"2019-12-18T22:22:03","modified_gmt":"2019-12-19T03:22:03","slug":"golden-rice-gets-biosafety-approval-as-food-feed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2019\/12\/18\/golden-rice-gets-biosafety-approval-as-food-feed\/","title":{"rendered":"Golden Rice gets biosafety approval as food, feed"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
The Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) and International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) announced the FFP approval on Wednesday, citing that the Golden Rice \u201chas been found to be as safe as conventional rice” after rigorous biosafety assessment. (File Photo:<\/a> Golden Rice Project\/Facebook<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MANILA<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 The Department of Agriculture’s Bureau of Plant Industry has granted a biosafety permit for the direct use of the vitamin A-enriched rice variety, Golden Rice, as food and feed or for processing (FFP).<\/p>\n

The Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) and International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) announced the FFP approval on Wednesday, citing that the Golden Rice \u201chas been found to be as safe as conventional rice” after rigorous biosafety assessment.<\/p>\n

PhilRice executive director Dr. John de Leon welcomed the regulatory decision as the rice variety could be seen as a complementary intervention to address the health problems associated with vitamin A deficiency (VAD).<\/p>\n

\u201cWith this FFP approval, we bring forward a very accessible solution to our country\u2019s problem on Vitamin A deficiency that\u2019s affecting many of our pre-school children and pregnant women,\u201d de Leon said.<\/p>\n

Golden Rice is a new type of rice that contains beta-carotene (provitamin A), which is converted into vitamin A as needed by the body and gives the grain its golden color. It is developed through genetic engineering and produces two new enzymes that complete the beta-carotene expression in the rice grain.<\/p>\n

IRRI Director General Matthew Morrel said the beta-carotene content of Golden Rice aims to provide 30 to 50 percent of the estimated average requirement (EAR) of vitamin A for pregnant women and young children.<\/p>\n

\u201cIRRI is pleased to partner with PhilRice to develop this nutrition-sensitive agricultural solution to address hidden hunger. This is the core of IRRI\u2019s purpose: to tailor global solutions to local needs,\u201d Morrel said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Philippines has long recognized the potential to harness biotechnology to help address food and nutrition security, environmental safety, as well as improve the livelihoods of farmers,\u201d Morrel added.<\/p>\n

To complete the Philippine biosafety regulatory process, Golden Rice will require approval for commercial propagation before it can be made available to the public.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MANILA\u00a0\u2013 The Department of Agriculture’s Bureau of Plant Industry has granted a biosafety permit for the direct use of the …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":240395,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[69],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-240394","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-food","mauthors-filane-mikee-cervantes","mauthors-philippine-news-agency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/240394","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=240394"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/240394\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":240396,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/240394\/revisions\/240396"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/240395"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=240394"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=240394"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=240394"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}