Detection of genetically modified DNA in fresh and processed foods sold in Kuwait

Abstract

Developments in genetic engineering technology have led to an increase in number of food products that contain genetically engineered crops in the global market. However, due to lack of scientific studies, the presence of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in the Kuwaiti food market is currently ambiguous. Foods both for human and animal consumption are being imported from countries that are known to produce GM food. Therefore, an attempt has been made to screen foods sold in the Kuwaiti market to detect GMOs in the food. For this purpose, samples collected from various markets in Kuwait have been screened by SYBR green-based real time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) method. Further confirmation and GMO quantification was performed by TaqMan-based RT-PCR. Results indicated that a significant number of food commodities sold in Kuwait were tested positive for the presence of GMO. Interestingly, certain processed foods were tested positive for more than one transgenic events showing complex nature of GMOs in food samples. Results of this study clearly indicate the need for well-defined legislations and regulations on the marketing of approved GM food and its labeling to protect consumer's rights.

DNA as a Biomaterial in Diagnosis of Food Adulteration and Food Safety Assurance

“…As mentioned previously, some countries around the world has accepted the GMO products with various limitations like proper labeling. In order to ensure the validity of the available products in the markets, various governmental organizations conduct the screening measures at regular intervals [4][5][6][7][8][9] SYBR green-based real time PCR method was used to detect the GMO food products in markets of Kuwait shown positive results, indicating the need of stringent rules and regulations in order to protect the consumer right's [5][6][7]. LightCycler-GMO screening kit based method was utilized to identify the positive GMO products sold in Saudi Arabia markets which indicates nearly 10% of them are GMO products.…”

Detection of Glyphosate Resistance Gene EPSPS in Different Fodders

“…To meet these regulative demands it is necessary to continuously analyze the presence of GM event in food/feed. Two classical approaches, based on proteins such as Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) and DNA, have been used in order to reveal the presence of GMOs (Al-Salameen et al, 2012). Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is preferred by many analytical laboratories interested in the detection of GM organisms because of its high sensitivity and reliability (Ahmed, 2002, Anklam et al, 2002, Holst-Jensen et al, 2003.…”