London’s LGC develops meat mixture reference materials to prevent food fraud

London-based life sciences measurement and testing company LGC is to put six new meat mixture reference materials on sale with the aim of controlling food fraud.

The company has produced these references in response to the horse meat scandal and subsequent reports of substitutions of cheaper meat in the food chain.

These meat mixtures will help food testing laboratories to assess the quality of their measurements and also ensure that substitutions in meat products at specified low levels are detected.

LGC analysed the materials using DNA sequencing, a PCR based method and an immunoassay method. The limit of detection of one meat species in the presence of another is below 1%.

In the UK, it is an offence to sell food that is ‘not of the nature, substance or quality demanded by the purchaser’ or ‘to falsely or misleadingly describe or present food’, under sections 14 and 15 of the Food Safety Act 1990.

LGC head of reference material production Gill Holcombe said: "The FSA report and the ‘Elliott Review into the integrity and assurance of food supply networks’ has revealed the extent of food fraud. It has highlighted the need for reference materials to help laboratories identify species present in meat samples and to ensure that consumers are not duped or cheated.

"We produced reference materials for identifying and quantifying horse meat in beef and pork in beef in March 2013, and we have now added sheep meat and additional mixtures to our catalogue of reference materials."

As well as the meat references, LGC has also produced single meat species reference materials, prepared under its ISO Guide 34 accreditation, for turkey meat, chicken meat, sheep meat, horse meat, beef meat and pork meat.

---

Image: LGC to put six new meat mixture reference materials on sale. Photo: courtesy of amenic181/freedigitalphotos.net.