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A recent change in the Food Labelling Regulations means that food products now require a quantitative declaration (QUID) for all ingredients mentioned in the name of the food. Therefore, food items specifying a type of meat in the name of the food will have to stipulate the amount of that meat in the product.
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This is a joint project that aims to optimise and evaluate DNA based meat species identification methodology developed from previously funded FSA research. The five contractors will pool their techniques, knowledge and samples, and will prepare a range of protocols for qualitative and quantitative identification of meat species in a variety of meat product matrices.
The first phase of the project will focus on the optimisation and evaluation of the in-house methods routinely used by the laboratories. The most appropriate techniques for extraction of DNA from a variety of meat matrices will be determined and in-house developed Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) assays will be compared. Two different species-specific quantitative PCR assays (based on nuclear and mitochondrial targets respectively) will be compared and validated using mixed species and complex meat samples.
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The most appropriate method for standard curve construction and quantitative analysis will be determined by comparison of standard curves produced using meat admixtures, DNA admixtures and plasmids containing target sequences.
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Finally a range of standard operating procedures will be prepared. These protocols will encompass the choice of appropriate assay, the DNA extraction technique and the assay conditions.
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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>.