Determination of GM soybean event MON87708 in soy protein concentrate and GM maize event MON89034 in cornflakes

Implementation of the European legislation on genetically modified organisms (GMOs) requires monitoring their presence in food and feed by analytical testing. The analytical tests are carried out by laboratories designated for official controls by the EU Member States. In line with Regulation (EU) 2017/625 on official controls, the European Union Reference Laboratory for Genetically Modified Food and Feed (EURL GMFF) organises proficiency tests (PTs) to assess the uniform and reliable performance of these control laboratories. This report summarises the results of the PT "GMFF-24/02" for the determination of GMOs in soy protein concentrate and cornflakes. The organic soy protein concentrate was spiked with GM MON87708 soybean powder (T1) and the organic cornflakes were spiked with GM MON89034 maize powder (T2). Fifty-nine laboratories participated in the PT round, including 44 National Reference Laboratories (NRLs) from 22 EU Member States, 11 EU Official Control Laboratories (OCLs) and 4 OCLs from EU-neighbouring or EFTA countries. The evaluation of their analytical performance confirms that most laboratories are able to identify and accurately quantify GMOs in these food samples. An important lesson learned from this PT is the need to use the latest batch of certified reference materials (CRMs) for calibration or its conversion factor when using dPCR.