Researchers have found a better way to identify unwanted animal products in ground beef.
Food science students used a laser-equipped spectrometer and statistical analysis to determine with 99 per cent accuracy whether ground beef samples included other animal parts. They were able to say with 80 per cent accuracy which animal parts were used, and in what concentration.
Their new method can accomplish all of this in less than five minutes, which makes it a potentially transformative food inspection tool for government and industry.
"By using this innovative technique, the detection of food fraud can be simpler, faster and easier," said the study's lead author.
Food fraud is the intentional misrepresentation of food products for economic gain. When producers hold an excess supply of meat or byproducts for which there is relatively little market demand, the potential exists for unscrupulous operators to try to pass those products off as something else. In the past five years, high-profile scandals in the U.K., Ireland, and Russia have seen lamb, chicken and even rat meat substituted for higher-quality meat products.
DNA testing has proven efficient and accurate in identifying foreign species in meat products, but what DNA testing cannot do is identify offal--hearts, livers, kidneys and stomachs--mixed in with meat of the same species.
To establish their method, the researchers aimed a spectrometer at meat samples they had prepared by grinding together beef and offal from local supermarkets at various concentrations. Because animal products all have different chemical compositions, their molecules absorb and scatter energy from the spectrometer's laser in different ways. The spectrometer captures these signals--or spectra--to produce an "image" of each substance. These spectral images can serve as a library for comparison with other samples.
Whether a meat sample is authentic or adulterated with offal can be determined by comparing its spectral image with the pre-established library, to see if there's a match.
The method improves on existing techniques that are more complicated and time-consuming. For example, a technique known as liquid chromatography works well, but it requires meat samples to be liquefied with solvents before testing, which can take more than an hour.
"The instrumentation for this technique is not that complex," author said. "So, if government or industry wants to do some rapid screening, they don't need to find highly trained personnel to conduct the experiment."
All they would need is a spectrometer and user-friendly software that connects to a robust library of spectral images. As more types of meat and offal were analyzed and their results stored, the technique would become even more accurate.
The researchers' ultimate goal is to create an affordable smart device that could be used by consumers at home for the authentication of different food products, much like the pregnancy-test strip.
https://news.ubc.ca/2017/11/24/new-technique-can-detect-impurities-in-ground-beef-within-minutes/
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-15389-3
Latest News
Immune cells identified as…
By newseditor
Posted 28 Mar
TB blood test which could d…
By newseditor
Posted 27 Mar
Propionate supplementation…
By newseditor
Posted 27 Mar
Role of human Kallistatin i…
By newseditor
Posted 26 Mar
Addressing both flu and COV…
By newseditor
Posted 26 Mar
Other Top Stories
Vagus nerve stimulation and rehab to restore hand and arm function…
Read more
Brain stress test to evaluate hallucinations in Parkinson's disease
Read more
Diversity of cholinergic neuron types in the adult mouse spinal cor…
Read more
Energy costs of neural communication and computation
Read more
Neuroimaging of depression with diffuse optical tomography
Read more
Protocols
Spatial proteomics in neuro…
By newseditor
Posted 28 Mar
All-optical presynaptic pla…
By newseditor
Posted 23 Mar
Epigenomic tomography for p…
By newseditor
Posted 20 Mar
A mouse DRG genetic toolkit…
By newseditor
Posted 17 Mar
An optogenetic method for t…
By newseditor
Posted 13 Mar
Publications
Salmonella manipulates macr…
By newseditor
Posted 28 Mar
BHLHE40/41 regulate microgl…
By newseditor
Posted 28 Mar
Balancing neuronal activity…
By newseditor
Posted 28 Mar
OSBP-mediated PI(4)P-choles…
By newseditor
Posted 28 Mar
Integrated plasma proteomic…
By newseditor
Posted 27 Mar
Presentations
Hydrogels in Drug Delivery
By newseditor
Posted 12 Apr
Lipids
By newseditor
Posted 31 Dec
Cell biology of carbohydrat…
By newseditor
Posted 29 Nov
RNA interference (RNAi)
By newseditor
Posted 23 Oct
RNA structure and functions
By newseditor
Posted 19 Oct
Posters
A chemical biology/modular…
By newseditor
Posted 22 Aug
Single-molecule covalent ma…
By newseditor
Posted 04 Jul
ASCO-2020-HEALTH SERVICES R…
By newseditor
Posted 23 Mar
ASCO-2020-HEAD AND NECK CANCER
By newseditor
Posted 23 Mar
ASCO-2020-GENITOURINARY CAN…
By newseditor
Posted 23 Mar