"We are pleased to have renewed UKAS accreditation for all of our GMO tests," said Dr. Jochen Zoller, Genetic ID Europe chief executive. "Our UKAS accreditation provides our customers with trustworthy third party assurance of the precision and reliability of our GMO testing."
Zoller said that the UKAS accreditation renewal ensures that Genetic ID complies with ISO/IEC/EN 17025.
Genetic ID's accredited tests provide cross-species, single-species and variety-specific GMO detection, as well as detection of unapproved animal by-products in animal feed. Zoller claims that Genetic ID's DNA-based technology detects the presence of any and all commercialised GMOs to a .005 per cent limit of detection, and quantifies the amount of detected GMO material to a limit of quantification of 0.1 per cent of the substance tested.
"The need for precise, DNA-based GMO testing is on the rise because of the new European Union regulations on traceability and labelling of GMOs in food and feed, and because of increasing consumer demand for reliable information about GMOs in food," said Zoller. "EU labelling laws now require that customers must be informed if 0.9 per cent of a food or food product contains approved GMOs, or if the food contains 0.5 per cent or more of a GMO that has been assessed as safe but has not yet been approved.
"These are quantitative thresholds, and food producers and consumers want a reliable, accurate quantitative GMO test to ensure that food products are in compliance with these new laws. Genetic ID provides these tests. The UKAS accreditation renewal gives our customers the assurance that they can rely on our testing services for accurate results."
The first Genetic ID laboratory, which was also the first commercial GMO testing lab in the world, was founded by Dr John Fagan in 1996 in the US. The company's GMO testing methods are used throughout the world by Genetic ID's eighteen-member Global Laboratory Alliance, including the company's Augsburg and Japan laboratories as well as government and commercial laboratories in Brazil, China, Singapore, Taiwan, India, United Kingdom, South Korea, the U.S. and Italy.
UKAS is a member of the European Co-operation for Accreditation (EA), the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) and the International Accreditation Forum (IAF). UKAS accreditation is accepted throughout the European Union and in countries on five other continents where UKAS has bilateral and multilateral mutual reciprocity agreements.