List of non-novel products of plant breeding for food use
This list includes products of plant breeding that don't meet the definition of "novel food," but are intended for food use in Canada. These plants aren't subject to pre-market assessment before their use in the Canadian food supply as they are considered "non-novel."
We have drawn this list from 2 sources:
- Health Canada's transparency initiative (TI) process for non-novel gene-edited plant products
- plant developers of non-novel gene-edited plants notify the department prior to the commercialization of their product
- Health Canada's novelty determination process
- plant developers may seek determination on the novelty status of their product
- products submitted through this process may be early in development. As a result, the plant developer may be unable to provide an 'earliest entry to market' date. For these products, this date will be noted in the list as 'not available at this time'. Plant developers are encouraged to provide this information at a future date
This list is published to:
- increase transparency of non-novel products of plant breeding used in the Canadian food supply
- allow interested parties to verify what products of plant breeding are considered non-novel
The information contained in this list is:
- free of confidential business information
- not associated with any specific health and safety considerations
Products on this list:
- are considered non-novel for use as a food or food ingredient
- must comply with all applicable statutory and regulatory requirements for food
- didn't require a pre-market safety assessment by Health Canada for food use as their safety is already well-characterized (that is, as non-novel foods)
Health Canada reserves the right to change the list without notice. If you use this list, it's your responsibility to check it regularly for updates.
The list complements Health Canada's list of non-novel determinations for food and food ingredients, which includes all other non-novel determinations for food use (that is, products not of plant breeding).
The sale of a food or food ingredient that poses a hazard to the health of consumers violates the Food and Drugs Act.
| Date | Product Name | Plant | Plant developer | Technology | Characteristic(s) | Mechanism(s) of Action | Food Use(s) | Earliest Entry to Market Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-06-18 | Tomato-L3 | Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) | Meiogenix SAS | Conventional breeding; Gene editing - Catalytically inactive CRISPR/Cas nuclease and SPO11-1 protein | Disease resistance | Introduction of a disease resistance gene through conventional breeding, followed by reduction of linkage drag by gene editing | Fresh and processed food | 2030 |
| 2026-06-12 | Aquafeed Soybean | Soybean (Glycine max) | Prograin Inc. | Conventional breeding | Reduction in five anti-nutritional factors | Mutations in genes involved in stachyose-raffinose, lipoxygenase, phytate, trypsin inhibitor, and saponin pathways | Animal feed mainly (meal) | 2028 |
| 2026-03-09 | High GABA Tomato (#87-17) | Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) |
Sanatech Life Science Co., Ltd. | Gene editing -CRISPR/Cas9 | Increased gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) level | Mutation in a native gene encoding a GABA synthesis enzyme | Fresh and processed food | 2026 |
| 2025-12-10 | NE-S2855 | Soybean (Glycine max) | Inari Agriculture N.V. | Gene editing – CRISPR/Cas | Herbicide tolerance | Maintain herbicide tolerance | Same applications intended for production of foods for human consumption | 2027 |
| 2025-11-18 | Improved quality trait blackberry | Domesticated blackberry (Rubus subgenus Rubus) | Pairwise Plant Services, Inc. | Gene editing – CRISPR/Cas | Compact growth, seedless, and/or thornless | Loss or reduced function of one or more transcription factors | Direct use as human food | 2028 |
| 2025-10-07 | LS87-9001 |
Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) | Lark Seeds International | Gene editing - CRISPR/Cas9 | Extended field holding, high yield, longer shelf life, less grey mold infection | Knockout of pectate lyase to reduce cell wall breakdown | Processing tomato | 2028 |
| 2025-06-19 | Soy Yield | Soybean (Glycine max) | Inari Agriculture, Inc. | Gene editing - CRISPR/Cas | Increased yield through changes in plant architecture | Deletions in coding or non-coding regions, in one or more native genes resulting in
|
Same food uses as soybean varieties currently available in Canadian market | 2026 |
| 2025-06-18 | ADV-HT2 grain sorghum | Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) | Advanta Seeds | Conventional breeding; classic mutagenesis | Herbicide tolerance | Mutation resulting in a single amino acid substitution in a protein | Processed grain and sorghum derived ingredients | 2027 |
| 2024-11-27 | DSL maize | Corn, maize (Zea mays L.) | Pioneer Hi-Bred Canada Company | Gene editing – CRISPR/Cas9 | Improved resistance to four fungal diseases: northern corn leaf blight, gray leaf spot, anthracnose stalk rot, and southern corn rust | Targeted incorporation of native maize genes (cisgenes) that confer resistance to fungal diseases | Uses including but not limited to: oil, starch, flakes, flour, grits, meal, sweetener, beverage alcohol, etc. | 2028 |
| 2024-10-24 | S4A | Strawberry (Fragaria x ananassa) | J.R. Simplot Company | Gene editing – CRISPR/Cas9 | Remontant strawberries | Deletions in a gene that result in a longer harvest season | Fresh and processed food | 2025 |
| 2024-10-07 | AP695 | Potato (Solanum tuberosum) | J.R. Simplot Company | Gene editing - CRISPR/Cas9 ribonucleoprotein | Reduced polyphenol oxidase (PPO) in tubers | Deletions in alleles that result in reduced PPO levels in tubers | Fresh and processed food | 2025 |
| 2024-07-03 |
|
Mustard greens (Brassica juncea) | Pairwise Plant Services, Inc. | Gene editing – CRISPR/Cas | Reduced pungency and trichomes | Reduced pungency: Reduced trichomes: |
Leafy greens usage | 2024 |
| 2023-10-20 | RTM1 Rice | Rice (Oryza sativa) | RiceTec, Inc. | Conventional breeding; classic mutagenesis | Herbicide tolerance | Mutation in a gene encoding a spatacsin-like protein | Whole rice and rice-derived ingredients | 2026 |
| 2023-05-09 | AXigen®Wheat | Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) | Limagrain Cereal Seeds, LLC | Conventional breeding; classic mutagenesis | Herbicide tolerance | Mutation in a gene encoding an acetyl CoA carboxylase (aACCase) involved in lipid biosynthesis | For use as wheat flour | 2024 |
| 2023-03-20 | YM-ALS-205 | Yellow mustard (Sinapis alba) | Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) | Conventional breeding; classic mutagenesis | Herbicide tolerance | Mutation in a gene encoding an acetolactate synthase (ALS) involved in amino acid synthesis | Condiment mustard usage | 2028 |
| 2023-03-07 | GT22, GT23, GT24, GT28, GT29, GT30 | Mustard greens (Brassica juncea) | Pairwise Plant Services, Inc. | Gene editing – CRISPR/Cas12a | Reduced pungency to improve flavour | Deletions, insertions, and/or inversions in a gene encoding a myrosinase enzyme involved in the breakdown of glucosinolates | Leafy greens food usage | 2023 |
| 2022-12-06 | JA36 | Potato (Solanum tuberosum) | J.R. Simplot Company | Gene editing – CRISPR/Cas9 | Higher tuber set | Deletions in a gene that results in higher tuber set | Fresh and processed food | 2024 |
| 2022-07-19 | High Amylose Wheat | Wheat (Triticum aestivum) | Arista Cereal Technology | Conventional breeding; classical mutagenesis | High amylose starch | Mutation in a gene involved in amylopectin production | Wheat flour ingredients | 2022 |
| 2022-07-19 | RTA2 Rice | Rice (Oryza sativa) | RiceTec, Inc. | Conventional breeding; classic mutagenesis | Herbicide tolerance | Mutation in a gene encoding a transcription factor | Whole rice and rice-derived ingredients | 2023 |
| 2022-07-18 | IQ Alfalfa | Alfalfa (Medicago sativa) | Calyxt Inc. | Gene editing - TALEN | Modified forage quality through altered lignin polymer composition | Mutation in a gene encoding a caffeic acid 3-O-methyltransferase involved in monolignol biosynthesis | Not intended for food use | 2023 |
| 2021-10-18 | BJ-ALS-B653 and BJ-ALS-A653 | Mustard (Brassica juncea) | Mustard 21 Canada Inc. | Conventional breeding; classical mutagenesis | Herbicide tolerance | Mutation in a gene encoding an acetolactate synthase (ALS) involved in amino acid synthesis | Condiment mustard usage | 2024 |
| 2020-10-16 | Canola quality RF3 | Canola (Brassica juncea) | BASF Canada Inc. | Conventional breeding; cross breeding | Herbicide tolerance; Fertility restoration in hybrid lines after crossing | Expression of a gene encoding a phosphinothricin acetyl transferase; Expression of a gene encoding Barstar protein, an inhibitor of Barnase protein | Oil and meal | 2026 |
| 2020-02-25 | Next Generation Waxy corn | Corn (Zea mays) | Pioneer Hi-Bred Canada Company | Gene editing - CRISPR/Cas9 | High amylopectin starch | Deletion of a gene involved in amylose production | Starch | Not available at this time |
| 2016-08-18 | 5720 | Canola (Brassica napus) | Cibus US LLC | Conventional breeding; tissue culture | Herbicide tolerance | Mutation in a gene encoding an acetohydroxyacid synthase (AHAS) involved in amino acid synthesis | Oil | 2017 |