Array Platform for Food Safety and Quality

Identification of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in food is becoming an issue of great interest. The introduction in the market of GMO products raises social and ethical concerns and the European Union has dictated several directives and regulations regarding their liberation and commercialization. This includes the Novel Food Regulation (258/97/CE) for labeling of GMO-containing food-stuff and the Directive 49/2000, which establishes that under 1% of approved GMOs, labeling is no longer necessary as long as their presence in the product is accidental or technically unavoidable. GMOs could be detected by either polymerase chain reaction (PCR), for direct detection of the transgenic DNA, or immunological methods, for detection of proteins coded by the transgenic sequences. Because of their higher reliability and sensitivity and the higher stability of DNA over proteins, PCR methods are usually preferred.