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Oct 9, 2018 | Blogs, Food / Beverage | 0 comments
The infamous horsemeat scandal of 2013 shined a spotlight on the questionable integrity of our meat supply. What followed was a lengthy investigation as the extent of the scandal unraveled before our eyes, reaching far beyond the European borders into Russia, India, China, and the United States. All this simply highlights the growing need for analytical methods that could effectively detect adulterated meat with undeclared species.
Finding the Needle in a HaystackAs analytical chemists, we are always looking for cutting-edge and innovative ways to better detect the “unusual” or “unknown.” With the wider requirement from global governments to regulate food manufacturing, the threshold for undeclared species in meat products gets lower and lower, driving the needle deeper into the haystack.
This means it is imperative that analytical methods are sensitive and accurate enough to screen for the presence of meat adulteration in food products. The common methods of choice for meat speciation—polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA)—are not up to par.
PCR, for instance, amplifies fragments of DNA extracted from food samples and demonstrates reliable sensitivity in unprocessed products. However, as DNA can be easily disrupted or removed during food processing and manufacturing, PCR is ineffective with regards to processed or cooked meat products.
While ELISA is relatively quick and simple to perform, it has poor selectivity and is susceptible to cross-species reactivity. This can lead to a higher number of false positive or negative results. Moreover, most ELISA tests lack multiplexing capabilities.
As a result, routine food testing labs are exploring alternative methods to test meat products for authenticity, in efforts to more accurately identify the species present.
Fight Back with LC-MS/MS Meat Speciation Testing SolutionsWhen all seems lost, fret not. LC-MS/MS to the rescue! In leading the fight for meat speciation and authenticity testing, LC-MS/MS solutions take a comprehensive approach.
LC-MS/MS meat speciation testing solutions enable:
Would your food testing lab benefit from faster, more conclusive meat speciation results? Find out how LC-MS/MS can revolutionize your labs by visiting our Meat Species Testing and Adulteration Analysis page, packed with videos, tech notes, solution guides, and so much more.Find out How >
As an analytical strategy, middle-down mass spectrometry (MS) workflows characterize biotherapeutic proteins by analyzing large, digested protein fragments or defined subunits, rather than fully intact proteins (top-down) or digested peptides (bottom-up). A middle-down strategy combines the strengths of top-down and bottom-up approaches by delivering high sequence coverage and structural specificity while maintaining relatively simple sample preparation. In practice, middle-down analysis enables accurate mass measurement, rapid sequence confirmation, and localization of key post-translational modifications (PTMs) on protein subunits that are directly relevant to product quality.
In biopharmaceutical development, sequence variants (SV) are considered an inherent risk of producing complex proteins in living systems. Sequence variants are unintended changes to the amino acid sequence of a biotherapeutic and can be caused by errors in transcription or translation in the host cell, or cell culture and process conditions. Detailed analysis of SVs is important in process and product development to ensure the drug’s safety and efficacy. Even low‑level sequence variants can have significant implications for product quality, safety, and efficacy, making their accurate detection and characterization a critical requirement across development, process optimization, and regulatory submission.
CE‑SDS remains a cornerstone assay for characterizing fragmentation, aggregation, and product‑related impurities in therapeutic proteins. UV detection has been the long‑standing standard. However, it frequently struggles with baseline noise, limited sensitivity for minor fragments, and subjective integration.
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