Current Development for the Detection of Meat Species Adulteration

Meat species adulteration imposes substantial concern to consumers in terms of economic loss, food allergy, religious observance, and food safety. Federal and state laws require that meat products be labeled as to the species they contain. Species substitutions, such as substitution of horse meat for beef and pork for sheep meat, have been reported in several countries (Matin, 1981). As mechanically deboned meats are increasingly used in the food industry, prevalent problems of mixing undeclared meat species have been documented among fresh and processed ground meat products in domestic retail markets as a consequence of improper handling or intentional practices of economic fraud (Hsieh et al., 1995). Rapid and reliable methods for detection of meat adulteration are indispensable for implementation of food labeling regulations and product quality control. Ideal analytical methods for these purposes need to be specific, sensitive, rapid, economic, of high throughput, able to analyze cooked products as well as raw meats, and provide quantitative results. Many methods for meat species identification have been developed during the past two decades. Recent development of techniques has been centered on enzyme immunoassay and DNA based analyses. A brief review of the currently available analytical methods for meat speciation and their limitations will be briefly discussed in this presentation.