Iranian Student Produces Special Kit to Detect Meat Fraud

“The detection kit can distinguish the meat of 25 different animals at the same time, showing which animal’s meat the product is made of,” Faranak Aali told ANA.

She added that detection of different types of meat used in meat products, including all cooked and raw foods, sausages, hamburgers, and other meat products is possible with high accuracy by designing and making a laboratory system through polymerase chain reaction (PCR).

“Given the fact that detection of the type of meat used in cooked foods and meat products is difficult, certain genetic sequences of the mitochondrial genome are amplified in multiplex extracts in the detection kit,” Aali said.

Noting that the performance of the meat fraud detection kit is based on the genetic identifiers of animals, she said that the origin of meat species can be identified and tracked in raw, semi-cooked and cooked products with only one PCR reaction.

Detection of species fraud in meat products is important for consumer protection and food industries. A molecular technique such as PCR method for detection of beef, sheep, chicken, donkey, and horse meats in food products was established.

Testing for meat species authenticity is typically performed using either DNA-based methods or protein-based methods.

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