Sep 7th, 2021
2 mins
Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) is a powerful tool for rapidly and cost-effectively identifying and characterising plant, animal and microbial species present in mixed food samples.
The application of NGS to food authenticity, adulteration and safety testing is a constantly evolving field with its own unique set of challenges that need to be explored. Further work needs to be conducted to better understand the performance characteristics and establish relevant performance criteria and metrics, to enable results generated in different laboratories to be compared and interpreted with equal confidence.
Following concerns raised from food industry members on the use of NGS for the quantitative determination of food ingredients, the Government Chemist engaged with Defra’s Authenticity Methodology Working Group (AMWG) and its Technical Sub-Group (AMWG-TSG), resulting in the AMWG producing a view on the use of NGS for food authenticity testing.
To download Defra’s Authenticity Methodology Working Group’s view on the use of Next Generation Sequencing for food authenticity testing, click here.
