Identification of Meat Species in Food Products by Molecular Biological Methods

Introduction

Based on the Food Sanitation Act, Japan Agricultural Standard Law (JAS Law) and other related laws, producers and distributors of meat and meat products are required to display the place of origin, source species of meat, and part of the animal in order to protect the security and safety of foods, while the Islamic and Jewish religions strictly forbid consumption of pork for religious reasons. Since information concerning meat species contained in fresh meat and processed meat products is extremely important, a technology for identifying meat species is needed in order to assure product quality and the peace-of-mind of various consumers. Methods for meat species indentification include protein-based methods (e.g., ELISA: Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay) and molecular biological methods (PCR: Polymerase Chain Reaction). Protein-based methods are comparatively simple and analysis is inexpensive, but they are not suitable for identification of closely- related species or for analysis of processed food products. On the other hand, analysis of processed foods is considered possible by molecular biological methods because DNA has relatively high thermal stability. In meat species identification from their genetic characteristics, the cytochrome b gene region of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is used as the target sequence. This article introduces an example of DNA detection in meat from beef, pork, chicken, lamb, horse meat, goat meat, and an analysis example in which the meat species were identified from processed meat products.

November 13, 2019 GMT