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Substantial equivalence is a concept, developed by OECD in 1991, that maintains that a novel food (for example, genetically modified foods) should be considered the same as and as safe as a conventional food if it demonstrates the same characteristics and composition as the conventional food. Substantial equivalence is important from a regulatory point of view. If a novel food is substantially equivalent to its conventional counterpart, then it could be covered by the same regulatory framework as a conventional food.[1]

The concept is used to determine whether a new food shares similar health and nutritional characteristics with an existing, familiar food with an established history of safe use.