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This research project will look at the possibility of using a chemical marker to detect the adulteration of human food products with 'low risk' animal by-products. Animal by-products are classified into three groups according to the risk they present to public health.
<p>Category 1 presents the highest risk and must be labelled 'for disposal only'.
<p>Category 2 materials must be labelled 'not for animal consumption'.
<p>Category 3 material present the lowest risk and must be labelled 'not for human consumption'.
<p>Category 1 and 2 materials must be marked with a smell or colour to prevent them being recycled back into the food chain.
<p>Category 3 material can be used to produce animal/pet food.
<p>As there is no requirement for marking this material, it could be fraudulently used in the production of human food.
The identification of a suitable marker, which would enable the detection of human food products containing Category 3 animal by-products, is desirable.
The project is a desk study and will initially determine the criteria that any potential markers must possess.
A range of likely candidates will then be selected and reviewed against the criteria to produce a shortlist of candidate compounds.
<p>The study will also detail the scope of experimental evaluation required to assess the suitability of the selected candidates as a marker.
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The final report, "<a href="http://www.foodbase.org.uk/results.php?f_report_id=64" target="_new">A Feasibility Study into the Marking of Category 3 (Low Risk) Animal By-products</a>" is available at Foodbase, an open access repository of the <acronym title="Food Standards Agency">FSA</acronym>.
<p>Find more about this project and other FSA food safety-related projects at the <a href="http://www.food.gov.uk/science/research/" target="_blank">Food Standards Agency Research webpage</a>.