Genetically engineered (GE) food is safe to eat, top scientists have said, following extensive research into the controversial products.

The practice of genetically engineering crops has been criticised for its potential impact on human health and the environment.

But a US National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine committee has dismissed claims they are not fit for human consumption after completing a study of more than 900 pieces of research and publications from the last two decades.

The US government advisory body - which counts more than 300 Nobel laureates as members - said its committee found there was no evidence to suggest genetically engineered foods had adverse effects.

A spokesman for the National Academies said: "While recognising the inherent difficulty of detecting subtle or long-term effects on health or the environment, the study committee found no substantiated evidence of a difference in risks to human health between current commercially available genetically engineered (GE) crops and conventionally bred crops, nor did it find conclusive cause-and-effect evidence of environmental problems from the GE crops."

He added that "new technologies in genetic engineering and conventional breeding are blurring the once clear distinctions between these two crop-improvement approaches".

Genetic engineering is a type of genetically modifying (GM) food that involves the intentional introduction of a targeted change in a plant, animal, or microbial gene sequence to achieve a specific result.

Genetic modification - completed either through genetic engineering or selection and hybridisation - is used to produce particular characteristics in plants such as longer shelf life for fruit, higher vitamin content, and resistance to diseases. 

Malta last year told the European Commission it would ban the cultivation of genetically modified organisms, availing itself of an opt-out clause.

The US expert committee of report authors studied research on the genetically engineered characteristics in maize (corn), soya bean, and cotton, which account for almost all commercial GE crops in the US.

They then heard from 80 speakers at three public meetings and 15 public online seminars and read more than 700 comments from the public.

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