Animal Species

​Animal Species Detection

For quality assurance and protection against product fraud, reliable analytical methods for the detection of animal species are an indispensable part of food analysis. In accordance with the European Commission Directive 2002/86/EC, food ingredients must be declared. This means that for meat and sausage products, the corresponding animal species must be named on the label. In Germany, the regulations for protection against deception are laid down in §11 of the German Food and Feed Code (Lebensmittel- und Futtermittelgesetzbuch, LFGB)

The identification of animal species in food is becoming more and more important for reasons of quality assurance as well as health and ethnic aspects.

The basis for sensitive animal species detection are highly purified nucleic acid extracts. These can be obtained by purification via columns or automated extraction. For this purpose, CONGEN offers a selection of suitable and validated extraction kits.

With the robust and sensitive real-time PCR kits from the SureFood^® ANIMAL and SureFood^® FISH ID product range, it is possible to perform qualitative and quantitative detection of animal and fish species. A wide range of single and multiplex systems are available for efficient animal species identification. The SureFood^® ANIMAL ID and SureFood^® FISH ID kits are equipped with an internal amplification control as well as an internal general detection for vertebrate DNA (IAAC) in addition to an animal species-specific detection system. IAAC can be used to simultaneously check whether animal DNA is present in the sample and whether inhibiting substances are interfering with the PCR.

We also offer SureFood^® ANIMAL QUANT real-time PCR kits for quantitative analysis in muscle meat. The quantitative real-time PCR kits we offer are based on the method of relative quantification. Two PCR systems are used, one for detection and one for reference. A standard series is used to calculate the copy number of the sample and the positive control. The ratio of the detection gene to the animal reference gene is determined using the calculated copy number for the tested sample and the positive control.

Religious reasons (e.g., Halal and Kosher) may require a particularly sensitive animal species detection. To address this requirement, CONGEN has developed the very sensitive SureFood^® ANIMAL ID Pork SENS PLUS. It is thus also possible to reliably detect 0.0001 % porcine DNA in highly processed foods such as gelatine.

Available test kits