Ensuring authenticity and safety of meat
The presence of horsemeat in beef products has hit the headlines again. This has occurred almost exactly 10 years after the British Food Standards Agency conducted its first survey for undeclared meats in salami. At that time, Eurofins had developed specific DNA tests that could show the presence of horse and donkey in beef and pork meats.
Now, the admixture of substantial quantities of horsemeat into other types of meats has been discovered by the Irish Food Standards Agency. Again, the advanced DNA testing systems of Eurofins have been employed. After the initial discovery in products sampled in Ireland, horsemeat was also found in numerous other European countries. In addition to the fact that the products were incorrectly labelled, the Food Standards Agency also in some of the samples found traces of phenylbutazone, an antiinflammatory veterinary drug which is not permitted to be used on horses destined for the food chain.
Eurofins offers several types of testing that support meat authenticity and safety:
- For meat speciation, customers can choose between sequencing, real-time PCR and ELISA. PCR tests allow multiple species detection, including beef, pork, goat, horse, donkey, turkey, and chicken, with the option of adding species on request. A certain format of this assay also allows semiquantitation. Similar tests can also be performed for fish species.
- For veterinary drug residue testing, Eurofins offers a single detection method for phenylbutazone as well as a comprehensive screening method for non-steroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAID) that encompasses phenylbutazone.
- Eurofins was the first laboratory to release a DNA test enabling the traceability of individual cow meat across the supply chain, in 2001. The system Eurofins-TAGTM allows the monitoring of individual animals throughout the food chain and thus the validation of the theoretical traceability implemented by each stakeholder. It is based on the fact that each animal has a unique genetic fingerprint that can be used as a tracer of the processed products originating from its carcass.
With this comprehensive offer, Eurofins further documents its unparalleled analytical and technological capabilities to support its customers' efforts in ensuring the authenticity, accuracy and safety of their products. This includes adapting these capabilities to deliver continuous high quality results with very short turnaround times despite large sample loads.
Contact: meat-testing@eurofins.com
