Diagnostic Methods in Meat Adulteration

Adulteration refers to producing food products that are?contrary to the legislation or permitted specifications. With adulteration, economic gain is achieved by adding a foreign or cheap substance to a product without specifying it in the ingredient list, or by changing some or all valuable components. Adulteration in red meat products is one of the most common examples.??

Adulteration in Meat Products

This raises religious, economic, and legal concerns and poses a threat to public health. Some consumers may experience allergic reactions due to these adulterations.

For these reasons, it is imperative that the contents of meat products be checked and analyzed to ensure the food safety of consumers.?

Meat Products Analysis: Real-Time PCR and ELISA?

Analysis methods such as ELISA and Real-Time PCR are widely used by manufacturers and Food Control Laboratories to ensure food safety in heat-treated and non-heat-treated meat products. Recently, the demand for Real-Time PCR has been increasing and this method has become more preferred in the food industry due to its rapid access and high reliability. Unlike protein-based methods, Real-Time PCR, is based on the analysis of DNA, which is more resistant to thermal and chemical treatments, can be used to determine species with high sensitivity and reproducibility even in heat-treated and processed meat products.

Meat Species Identification Real-Time PCR Kits

It is important to purposefully select the sensitivity of the tests used in the analysis of food adulteration/ species identification. The tests used must be sensitive enough to analyze deliberate adulteration and the targeted species identification like chicken and turkey DNA.? ??

It is also important to protect the manufacturers. Non-intentional production line cross-contamination or the use of eggs as a product ingredient should not be reported as adulteration.

With the Bosphore Species Identification Kit Turkey v3 and Chicken v3, it is possible to detect turkey and chicken mtDNA from meat and meat product samples with a sensitivity of 1% and an analysis time of less than 1 hour. This kit has the same sensitivity value as the commonly used protein-based ELISA tests, while at the same time guaranteeing reliable and healthy results in heat-treated and non-heat-treated meat products.?