Farming News - FSA celebrates development of more rigorous GM testing methods
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FSA celebrates development of more rigorous GM testing methods
Last month, the Food Standards Agency announced it had developed improved screening methods for the detection of genetically modified organisms, which are banned or subject o strict controls in the EU.
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According to the agency, nine novel methods have been developed to aid detection of GMOs in food and feed. The agency said it plans to roll out the methods for use worldwide “to improve the ability of enforcement laboratories to detect the current and next generation of GMOs present in food and feed.”
In the EU, any food or feed ingredient containing GMOs must be labelled as such. However, the FSA said EU laboratories can face difficulties in detecting GM material. It said, “This is partly due to the ever increasing number and complexity of authorised GM events, but also to the increasing problem of unauthorised GMOs, for which EU validated methods of detection do not exist.”
In response, the FSA and German BVL launched the GMOseek project to deliver improved screening methods. Six European laboratories began working on the project between 2009 and 2011.
The principal aim of the project was to create a new bioinformatics tool, named GMOseek, which consists of a software tool that contains a database and a mathematic algorithm that selects from the database an optimal set of genetic elements to target for the detection of GMOs.
The project also oversaw the development of new PCR screening methods, for the detection of new next-generation GMOs. PCR tests are based on DNA and offer faster, more accurate test result data than traditional microbiological culture methods. The new screening methods can simultaneously detect several targets, increasing efficiency, through reducing the number of tests that need to be carried out, according to the FSA.
The FSA said that its new software tool will save time and money in screening for GMOs and, once it and the new testing methods have been validated through further testing, will be available for laboratories worldwide to use. The agency intends to set up a website from which GMOseek can be freely distributed.