Aberdeen, Scotland scientists at the University of Aberdeen’s Rowett Institute have unveiled a pioneering technology designed to detect “food fraud” the deliberate mislabeling or adulteration of food products.
The new system, named MEATiCode, can identify not only the type of meat present in shop-bought meals but also the breed of animal it originates from.
Researchers say the innovation will help verify product authenticity, prevent cross-contamination, and strengthen consumer confidence in food labelling.
In tests carried out on supermarket meals containing beef, pork, chicken, and lamb, the Rowett Institute team discovered two cases where the meat content did not match what was advertised. One kebab contained none of the 14% lamb listed on the label, while another product labelled as 60% lamb and 20% chicken was found to have twice as much chicken as lamb.
The remaining 17 meals tested were consistent with their labelling.
Incorrect labelling can have serious consequences, especially for people with allergies or those who avoid certain meats for religious or ethical reasons.
Project lead Renata Garbellini Duft said: "When you buy a burger in the supermarket you do not know what is inside - you just have to trust the label.But using this method we know exactly what is inside."
"In one single experiment we can detect a lot of different species."
Samples of meat are put into the machine and analysed against a database of eight species of meat by identifying unique peptides - short chains of amino acids - in the food.
This provides a clear picture of where the food has come from.
It has also been shown to be able to drill down far enough to identify particular breeds, such as Aberdeen Angus.
"It is a growing concern," Ms Garbellini Duft explained.
"Maybe it can lead to more testing and less money will be lost on food fraud."
"We hope this can help the meat industry to protect especially the local producers or some farms where they have this high quality meat."
After working on meat, the team hopes to move on to honey which is said to be "one of the most frauded products".
They will also look into assessing whisky and adapting the technique to detect allergens such as nuts, fish and dairy products.
Source: BBC
Bd-pratidin English/ ANI
