Pre-DQ tool (Source codes) ad-hoc meeting with GMO industry representatives

The ad hoc meeting with GMO industry representatives (GMO applicants) was organized by EFSA on 27th of May 2026 (14:30-17:00 CEST). The meeting was held remotely.

The following topics were discussed:

1. Celiac Disease. Overview of EFSA’s celiac disease assessment framework for GM proteins, highlighting the role of the preDQ tool and identifying areas for improvement, including lessons learned, exclusion criteria, and future risk assessment recommendations. 

2. Update and maintenance of the preDQ. Presentation of the updated preDQ v2 tool. It introduced technical improvements, enhanced usability, and integration of the Food Nonamers Database, while emphasising that preDQ predicts HLA binding but alone it cannot by itself predict celiac disease risk. 

3. preDQ v2 Questions & Answers. Question-and-answer session on preDQ v2. It clarified how results should be interpreted, discusses limitations of the tool, addresses user questions, and reinforced that preDQ is a screening tool rather than a predictor of celiac disease. 

4. Proposal for the Improvement of the preDQ tool. CropLife Europe’s proposal for improving preDQ. Recommendations include refining motif searches, introducing exclusion criteria to reduce false positives, prioritising docking-based predictions, and expanding the Food Nonamers Database. 

5. Recommendations on celiac disease assessment framework of newly expressed proteins in GMO for EU applications. CropLife Europe’s proposal for a revised celiac disease assessment framework. It advocates a risk-based, stepwise approach centred on protein knowledge and history of safe use, using preDQ only for proteins that remain of concern after initial screening.