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EPL BAS provides specialized food composition and nutritional
testing for agricultural biotechnology companies that develop
genetically enhanced plant varieties.
The food safety assessment for these products, whether performed
by the FDA or the EPA, requires evaluation of the safety of
the newly added DNA, its protein products and the overall
balance of the food. Guiding this assessment is the concept
of "Substantial Equivalence".
Substantial Equivalence (SE) is widely regarded as a sound
basis for safeguarding the quality and safety of biotech foods
and provides historical context based on centuries of experience
with conventional foods.
Evaluation of the Substantial Equivalence of a new food involves
analysis of Nutrient Compositional Equivalence. Bioavailability
and quantity of important nutrients in the food, such as proteins,
carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals, fats and oils are analyzed
to ensure that they fall within the normal range of variability
for the food. As many foods contain naturally occurring toxins
and anti-nutrients, levels of these substances are also tested
and compared.
Our validated methods are based on published procedures from
such sources as:
- Association of Analytical Communities (AOAC)
- American Association of Cereal Chemists (AACC)
- American Association of Oil Chemists (AOCS)
- Customized methods applying Environment Protection Agency
(EPA) Standards
EPL combines its historical expertise in food composition/nutrition
chemistry and Good Laboratory Practices (GLP) to offer one
of the most sophisticated, EPA GLP compliant service packages.
EPL currently analyzes maize, soy, and cotton matrices and
processed fractions for each of these matrices using instruments
such as:
- Gas chromatography (GC)
- High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)
- Ultra performance liquid chromatography (UPLC)
- Inductively coupled plasma (ICP)
- Microwave Accelerated Reaction System (MARS)
- Optical emission spectrometer
- Spectrophotometer
EPL has expertise in development and validation of methods
and continually adds new methods and new matrices to our suite
of analyses. |
