Legislation in the European Union regulates the placing on the market of food and feed consisting of, containing or produced from genetically modified organisms (GMOs). They are referred to as genetically modified (GM) food and feed and require labelling if they contain more than 0.9 % of GMOs. In general, this threshold demands on the one hand the development and validation of reliable methods for GMO quantification, and on the other hand the production of reference materials for calibration or quality control of these methods.
The series of GMO matrix reference materials for the potato event AV43-6-G7 (ERM-BF431) consists of five different mass fractions levels of AV43-6-G7 potato with a nominal value of 0, 1000, 10, 40 and 100 g/kg. Genetically modified AV43-6-G7 potato is modified related to its starch content and received in accordance with Commission Regulation (EC) No 65/2004 the unique identifier code AVE-436G7-1.
ERM-BF431 was prepared according to ISO Guides 34 by mixing gravimetrically dried GM and non-GM potato powder. The resulting GM percentages were confirmed by real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis after DNA extraction from the powders. The preparation and certification of ERM-BF431a, ERM-BF431b, ERM-BF431c, ERM-BF431d and ERM-BF431e is described in detail in the certification report.