GMO LABELING IN FOOD PRODUCTS IN MONTEVIDEO, URUGUAY

Montevideo establishes the mandatory labeling of foods containing genetically modified material through the Departmental Decree No. 36.554, positioning Uruguay within the 65 countries that have incorporated this type of regulation. The Food Regulation Service, in its role of sanitary police, and through its Laboratory of Bromatology, in agreement with the Food Molecular Traceability Laboratory (Faculty of Sciences, University of the Republic), carried out the analysis of 206 products made with ingredients derived from corn and/or soybean, during the 2015-2017 period, within the framework of compliance with the aforementioned Decree. The strategy used consisted of the application of molecular techniques (Real Time PCR), for the detection of common sequences present in the transgenic events of soybean and corn, and the subsequent quantification of the content of GM material, in relation to an established labeling threshold of 1%. As a result of this study, it was found that 36.9% of the analyzed foods presented sequences derived from genetically modified plant organisms (GMOs); and in 95% of the cases, its content exceeded the threshold established for its labeling. This study, constitutes the first approach to the knowledge of different transgenic elements distribution in food commercialized in Montevideo. These results provide valuable information to both the consumer, for decision making about the food to be consumed, and also for the official control organizations, which must enforce the regulations. This type of work has demonstrated, once again, the importance of the interrelation between academy and state agencies, in the generation of knowledge and in the implementation of new analytical methodologies, as well as in the training of qualified human resources and in the compliance with current regulations.