Application of the Detection of Pork-Derived DNA in Food to Halal Food Management

User Benefits

- Fingerprinting analysis allows for the objective identification of the animal species in meat products. - It can detect even a 0.0001% admixture of pork. - It is a useful tool for quality control and certification.

Introduction

From the perspective of ensuring food safety and traceability, the importance of verifying ingredients in food and identifying animal species is increasing. In processed meat products, in particular, verifying the species of the raw meat and detecting the contamination of meat from other species are critical quality control issues. Additionally, for foods subject to religious restrictions, such as halal foods, strict control over the contamination of pork-derived ingredients is required. The PCR method, which utilizes DNA analysis, is widely used for animal species identification. Although agarose gel electrophoresis is commonly used to visualize PCR products, this method requires visual assessment of the presence or absence of bands, presenting challenges in terms of subjectivity, reproducibility, and data recording. The MultiNA II microchip electrophoresis system automates the separation and detection of DNA fragments and allows results to be obtained as digital data. Also, the fingerprinting analysis function built into the analysis software enables automatic identification of DNA band patterns. In this application, we investigated a method for identifying animal species in food using the MultiNA II. Specifically, we performed animal species identification on halal-certified foods and general processed foods, and evaluated detection sensitivity using model samples containing pork contamination.

August 18, 2026 GMT