Food Standards Agency
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Listen to this siteWednesday 27 August 2003
This research project aims to develop methods to identify the species and determine the amount of meat in meat products.
Study Duration : January 2003 to January 2005
Contractor : Nottingham Trent University
The Food Labelling Regulations require a quantitative ingredient declaration (QUID) of a named meat species in meat products, and/or of total meat in a product. The protein desmin is considered to be a suitable target antigen for use in meat speciation and total meat determination for a number of reasons, including the fact that it is confined to muscle and is the least soluble component of muscle cells. Indeed, during the MAFF project AN0685 several hybridomas were devoloped that secreted monoclonal antibodies reactive against desmin in heated samples of all commonly used meats such as lamb, pork, beef, chicken. These antibodies were not reactive with non-meat products. Desmin has been shown to exhibit some species variation between pork, chicken, and beef and whilst species-specific anti-desmin polyclonal antibodies cannot be produced, it is possible to produce species-specific monoclonal antibodies. Currently hybridomas secreting monoclonal antibodies that are poultry-specific and can detect heat-treated epitopes are available. These various desmin-specific antibodies could be used in immunoassays to give a quantitative estimation of the poultry/beef meat content of fresh and heated meat samples.
The current project seeks to extend the use of the anti-desmin antibodies available, to incorporate them into sensitive assays (indirect Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assays, two-site assays and dot blots) for the specific detection of poultry meat species and the total meat content of meat products. Different assay formats will be compared for sensitivity and reproducibility.
These immunoassays, once fully validated, will provide the Foods Standards Agency with much improved methods for general meat and poultry meat quantification, by detecting a target antigen which is both insoluble and muscle specific. These assays will be complementary to the DNA-based assays being developed/trialled, but have the advantages of detecting an antigen which cannot be derived from blood elements and of being quantitative in nature without being too technically demanding.
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