Irish firm to play a key role in GM labelling

An Irish company based at Trinity College Dublin, which has developed advanced techniques to detect GMOs in food, has been approved by the EU and will play a major role in facilitating the labelling of GM foods sold in Europe.

IdentiGEN has successfully emerged from a validation programme aimed at harmonising GMO testing standards across the EU. Of 22 laboratories from Europe and North America, it was one of only nine to score 100 per cent efficiency in all product categories tested.

Reliable testing is crucial to effective labelling of GM foods and will be required in Europe and elsewhere. Labelling, seen as the best means of offering consumer choice, is about to become mandatory for products with greater than 1 per cent GM material per ingredient under new EU regulations.

Determining if a product contains GM material can be complex, according to Dr Ronan Loftus of IdentiGEN. Most tests look for specific genes engineered into the crop, using a technique known as the polymerase chain reaction. This can detect trace amounts of stretches of DNA in complex food mixtures.

"However, obtaining DNA of sufficient quality and quantity to facilitate detection is not always easy. The degradation caused through food-processing can damage or even destroy DNA, making it very difficult to detect," Dr Loftus said.

The company has been providing a commercial GMO testing service over the past year to customers in Ireland, Britain and the US.

Given that up to 60 per cent of processed food products may contain soya or corn derivatives - a large percentage potentially of GM origin - validation of IdentiGEN's detection methods will aid considerably their monitoring of GM foods, Dr Loftus said.