Nofima Mat has developed a method that makes it possible to both reveal and quantify many different genetic modifications in food simultaneously. This method can be used in all cases where it is necessary to reveal and quantify many "genes" simultaneously and the method is DNA based.
GMOs and the consumer
Genetic technology is a technology. It is not relevant whether genetic technology is significantly different from traditional plant breeding. What is significant is whether the plant that has been produced with the aid of genetic technology is significantly different from the plant that has been produced by traditional plant breeding.
Consumers are concerned about safety and health risks linked to genetic modification. In collaboration with other European countries, Nofima Mat has established a database of methods for measuring consumer attitudes to genetically modified food. Over the years in which GM plants have been commercially available, a great deal of knowledge has been collected about the health, socioeconomic and ecological advantages of these plants.
Recently the need for a new review of attitudes to the use of GM plants has been powerfully actualised by the current food crisis, feed problems for European farmers and fish farmers and the realisation that there are more and more people on the planet but we have little opportunity to significantly increase the area under agriculture.
Nofima Mat can help the food industry in a number of areas, including:
- Analysis of GMO content in foods
- Market perspectives
- Risk analyses
- Developing methods for revealing GMOs
