DETECTION OF TRANSGENES IN FOOD PRODUCED FROM TRANSGENIC PLANTS

According to the << Navel Foods >> directive from the EU (February 199 7), the products based on - or derived from - genetically-modified org anisms (GMO) should be labeled unless there is << substantial equivale nce >> between the GMO-derived product and the equivalent product from non-GMO material. Currently, the most useful method to identify, GMO' s is based on the PCR technics, Methodology for transgene detection in raw and industrially-processed materials is presented. The limits of methodology specially for food products, the problem of sampling, the definition of the tracing limits and the detection of unknown transgen es are discussed.