Maize, the second most important genetically modified (GM) crop, and an ingredient in many foodstuffs worldwide. Regulations for both the labeling and the traceability of GMOs in feed chains are coming into force worldwide. To provide consumer's information, labelling for food products containing more than 0.9% of GM material is demanded by the actual EU legislation. Analysis of foods is then essential to detect and quantify GM maize material and verify the compliance with labelling information. For this purpose, reliable and accurate detection methods are a necessity. PCR-based methods are the most common and reliable methods developed thus far. The aim of the present work was to assess the presence of GM maize in a range of processed foods commercialised in Iran from 2016–2017. For this purpose, screening of GM material was carried out by qualitative PCR. According to results, 26% of the samples tested were positive for GMOs. The present study which represents a fast and reliable methodology would provide an overview of the presence and levels of GMOs maize in Iran. While, results demonstrate for the first time the screening for GMOs in foods sold in Iran with a large time scale and wide product scope.

玉米是第二重要的转基因作物，是全球许多食品中的一种成分。饲料链中转基因生物的标签和可追溯性法规正在全球范围内生效。为了向消费者提供信息，欧盟实际法规要求对转基因材料含量超过0.9％的食品进行标识。然后，对食品进行分析对于检测和量化转基因玉米材料并验证其是否符合标签信息至关重要。为此，需要可靠且准确的检测方法。基于PCR的方法是迄今为止开发的最常见和最可靠的方法。本工作的目的是评估2016-2017年在伊朗商业化的一系列加工食品中转基因玉米的存在。以此目的，GM材料的筛选是通过定性PCR进行的。根据结果​​，测试的样本中有26％对转基因生物呈阳性。本研究代表了一种快速可靠的方法，将概述伊朗转基因玉米的存在和水平。同时，结果首次证明了对伊朗销售的食品中的转基因生物的筛查具有较大的规模和广泛的产品范围。