On January 3, 2023, Health Canada issued a safety assessment report on the use of RBD (refined, bleached, and deodorized) cottonseed oil and cottonseed linters derived from MON88702 cotton for food. The food is as safe and nutritious as that of current commercial cotton varieties. The main contents include:

(1) The Department conducted a comprehensive evaluation of cottonseed oil and cotton linters under its new Food Safety evaluation Guidelines. These guidelines are based on internationally recognized principles for determining the safety of foods with novel characteristics;

(2) The development process of MON88702 cotton, insect-resistant cotton MON88702 is derived from recombinant DNA technology, and protects cotton by inserting an expression cassette encoding a modified insecticidal crystal (Cry) protein, which is derived from Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) and can prevent Feeding damage by target Hemiptera and Thysanoptera pests;

(3) In terms of use, RBD cottonseed oil and cottonseed linters derived from MON88702 cotton will be used in applications similar to RBD cottonseed oil and cottonseed linters of traditional cotton varieties, including frying, salad dressing, mayonnaise, margarine, shortening, other foods and as food grade cellulose;

(4) Component analysis data show that RBD cottonseed oil and cottonseed linters extracted from MON88702 cotton are as safe and have the same nutritional quality as traditional cotton varieties used in Canada for food;

(5) In terms of toxicology/allergy, RBD cottonseed oil and cottonseed linters derived from MON88702 cotton are not considered to pose greater toxicological or allergic risks than conventional cotton varieties.