Food tests miss GM ingredients

Deborah Collcutt / London Times 15oct00

GENETICALLY modified ingredients could be getting onto supermarket shelves undetected because of serious flaws in the product testing system.

The first performance check of commercial testing methods has revealed that nearly 20% of laboratories failed to recognise the presence of genetically modified organisms (GMO) in their analyses.

The investigation, by the government Food Analysis Performance Assessment Scheme (Fapas), found that another 60% of laboratories claimed to have found positive signs of GMOs when there was none.

The laboratories checked by Fapas are commissioned by retailers to test their products before they go on sale.

European laws on the labelling of genetically modified (GM) food introduced this April stipulate that ingredients containing soya, maize or their derivatives with levels of GM material higher than 1% must be labelled as containing GM ingredients.

Although laboratories are required to quantify accurately the level of GM material present in the product, Fapas's analysis of results from more than 80 laboratories in 19 European countries revealed widely varying determinations. One group of scientists found GMO levels 12 times higher than their colleagues.

The laboratories were sent samples of GM soya flour and GM soya isolate, a soya bean derivative, containing different levels of GMOs. Both are used commonly as binding agents in pastry, chocolate, cakes, sauces and ready-made meals.

Neil Griffiths, the chief executive of Law Laboratories, who set up a certification process and has analysed the findings, said: "This is very worrying as it means many products that do contain GM ingredients are not being correctly labelled. Consumers therefore cannot be certain of what they are buying."

Professor Brian Heap, vice-president of the Royal Society, said it was difficult to rely on commercial tests to detect traces of GMOs.

"You cannot easily prove, unless somebody can invent a test that nobody has thought of previously, whether a product contains GM or not."

A spokesman for Fapas declined to comment because the results had yet to be returned to the participating laboratories.

The results have been passed to the Food Standards Agency. A spokesman said: "In terms of the current tests, we feel they are effective when correctly applied. Detection is only one method of enforcement; there are documentation checks and sourcing. The FSA is looking at the whole issue of GM testing."