Illegal GM maize detected in processed and unprocessed food products in India
Genetically modified (GM) maize, which is illegal in India, has been detected in commercially sold processed and unprocessed maize grains in the country, scientists have found.
Researchers from the National Institute of Food Technology, Entrepreneurship and Management, Thanjavur (NIFTEM-T) conducted advanced technical tests, including attenuated total reflectance-fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) and polymerase chain reaction, to confirm the presence of GM maize.
ATR-FTIR, a non-destructive technology, is widely used to analyse product composition and detect chemical modifications.
GM foods and ingredients refer to those that are engineered or altered at the genetic level. While India is among five countries — including the United States, Brazil, Argentina and Canada — that cultivate GM crops, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), the apex food regulatory body, has not approved GM foods for commercial sale.
Since March 2021, FSSAI has mandated a GM-free or non-GM origin certification for the import of 24 specified food consignments into the country.
The findings of the NIFTEM-T study, published in the journal Elsevier, involved the analysis of 34 processed and unprocessed maize samples.
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