Workshop looks at safety of genetically modified foods

Workshop looks at safety of genetically modified foods

Organized with support from the Asian Development Bank, AIT and Thailand's National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (BIOTEC) are organizing a training workshop on Food Safety Assessment of Agriculture-Related Genetically Modified Organisms. The workshop will be held at BIOTEC, Thailand Science Park and at the Food Engineering and Bioprocess Technology Laboratories at AIT 18-29 September 2006.

The ADB support comes specifically from ADB TA 6214-REG: Strengthening Capacity and Regional Cooperation in Advanced Agricultural Science and Technology in the Greater Mekong Sub Region Project.

Participants of the laboratory workshop are diverse group of government nominees from the GMS region. The first part of the workshop (18-23 September) will be held at BIOTEC and will consist of lecture presentations including: Overview of Genetically Modified Foods and its Safety Concerns; Case Studies on Genetically Modified Foods; Functional Foods and Nutraceuticals and a field trip. The second part of the workshop (25-29 September) will be held at the Food Engineering and Bioprocess Technology Laboratories, AIT and will consist of laboratory training ranging from General Food Microbiology, Genetically Modified Food, Food Safety Aspects, Rapid Detection of Genetically Modified products and Food Borne Pathogens using Polymerase Chain Reaction. The chief course instructor for the latter will be Prof. Sudip K. Rakshit, vice president of research and a Food Engineering and Bioprocess Technology faculty member. He will serve as a resource person for a number of lectures in the first part of the workshop also.