Detection Of Beef And Pork In Fresh And Heat Treated Meat Products Using Enzyme Immunoassay

Abstract

Raw and heat-treated pork and beef products were purchased from the outlets of two leading Kenyan manufacturing firms. Pure beef and pork sausages and pork sausages containing 1, 5 and 10% beef were prepared in the laboratory. Antigens from these products were extracted with phosphate buffered saline. The presence of beef and pork in these products was determined using absorbed goat antisera to cattle and pig thermostable muscle antigens in an enzyme immunoassay. The assay was able to detect beef in pork sausages at the level of 10% and 5% but not at 1%. Of the 44 commercial beef products labelled as containing only beef, 23 (52.3%) were shown to contain pork and 23 (50%) of the 46 pork products were shown to contain beef. Antisera to thermostable muscle antigens proved to be of great value in species identification not only of fresh unheated meats but also of heated (cooked, pasteurized and autoclaved) meat products in an enzyme immunoassay.