Test for Horse Meat Developed
Scientists have recently developed a method to distinguish horse meat from beef. This is because the fat components of the meats have two different fatty acid compositions. The new method looks at differences in the chemical composition of fat in the meats, using technology similar to that of a hospital MRI scanner.
The need for a distinguishing method of this nature arises from the horse meat scandal of 2013, when horse meat was discovered in a number of beef burgers. Horse meat was then detected in other meat products, leading to a recall of thousands of pounds of food. This exposed threats to public health and subjected the meat industry to claims of fraud.
The current method for testing the meat involves DNA, but it is an expensive and slow process. The new method was developed in response to this and involves Pulsar, a high-resolution bench-top NMR spectrophotometer. Usually spectroscopy is expensive, but Pulsar by contrast is based on permanent magnets and ease of operation. Researchers found that a couple of minutes shaking about a gram of meat in a solvent followed by a few minutes of data acquisition by Pulsar was enough to tell horse meat from beef.
I think this new method will force the meat industry to be more truthful with the manufacturing of their products and will ensure the health of the entire public.
