Presence of DNA in fermentation products
Download the brochure: Presence of DNA in fermentation products
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Download the brochure: Presence of DNA in fermentation products
Get the latest news and insights from the world of food safety and subscribe also to our newsletter.
Why?
To be approved as food/feed additive or food enzyme in the EU, a fermentation product must be free from production strain DNA if the strain is genetically modified (GMM) or if a non-GMM carries acquired antimicrobial resistance genes. The aim is to prevent unintended release of material from GMMs or genes of concern into the environment. Biosafe Ltd has developed Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to cover various cases in order to ensure that appropriate principles, fulfilling the requirements set by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA FEEDAP Panel, 2018), are always followed.
How?
The presence of production strain DNA in the product is tested with strain-specific PCR. According to EFSA, the size of the amplified PCR fragment must not exceed the smallest antimicrobial resistance gene (AMRg) in the strain. In any case, the fragment should not exceed 1 kb. Whole genome sequence of the strain is needed for proper designing of the PCR primers. A limit of detection of at least 10 ng/g or mL of product should be achieved. Production strain DNA is used as a positive control to prove the validity of the assay.
Instead of the final product, samples from an earlier step can be analysed as long as they are equally or more concentrated. This usually alleviates problems related to PCR inhibition. Three independent production batches should be analysed, each one in triplicate, i.e. nine samples in total.
All fermentation products are unique, and a proper DNA isolation method needs to be developed case-by-case.
Over the years, Biosafe Ltd has gained plenty of experience with widely varying products and matrices.
This know-how can shorten markedly the time needed for preliminary testing of DNA isolation method, which suits to a particular product.
Optimising the DNA analysis is among the most challenging in vitro analyses required for product approval in the EU. Biosafe experts are happy to help you with this.
To minimize the time and effort during testing, Biosafe asks you details about the test strain and the sample. All information will be kept strictly confidential. The test strain is destroyed after the project.
Contact us
Jenny Makkonen
Project Manager, PhD
+35840 5474 110
jenny.makkonen@biosafe.fi
Meeri Sutinen
Quality Manager, Project Manager, PhD
+35840 574 9191
meeri.sutinen@biosafe.fi
Lars Granlund
Project Manager
+358 40 5061 244
lars.granlund@biosafe.fi
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