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New BSE test could help allay
meat safety fears |
By Jane Byrne
Source of Article: http://www.foodproductiondaily.com/Quality-Safety/New-BSE-test-could-help-allay-meat-safety-fears |
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13-Aug-2008 -
A test to instantly detect
beef that has been contaminated with tissue from a cow's brain or spinal cord
during slaughter could improve control of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy
(BSE) in the food supply chain, claims a A test
to instantly detect beef
contaminated with tissue from a cow's brain or spinal cord during slaughter
could improve control of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE)
in the food supply chain, claims a Researchers,
who worked in conjunction with the Scientists
believe that the human illness, Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD) - discovered in 1996 - is caused by the
consumption of BSE-infected meat. As of June 2008, 166 probable or definite
cases of vCJD had been diagnosed in the The
researchers claim their light-based spectroscopic monitoring technique is
rapid and non-invasive, requiring no sample preparation as opposed to
existing methods. This development could offer an advance in protecting
against possible spread of vCJD, they added. “No
currently available method enables the real-time detection of possible
central nervous system (CNS) tissue contamination on carcasses during
slaughter," claims lead researcher Jürgen A. Richt from “A
benefit to the beef production industry would be an improved product quality
assurance and would result in increased consumer protection,” added the researchers. The
study suggested that the drawbacks of conventional detection based on ELISA
and PCR techniques are the high costs involved as well as the need for
varying degrees of access to laboratory environments and equipment, which
they claim make them unsuitable for on-site monitoring during the slaughter
process. Findings
In the
study, published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, the
researchers point out that removal of brain, spinal and other central nervous
tissue after slaughter is "one of the highest priority tasks to avoid
contamination of the human food chain with bovine spongiform encephalopathy
(BSE).” The
researchers said their test is based on detection of the fluorescent pigment lipofuscin, a substance that appears in high
concentrations in the nervous tissue of cattle, which they believed was a
dependable indicator for the presence of brain and spinal tissue in bovine
carcasses and meat cuts. "Small
quantities of bovine spinal cord were reliably detected in the presence of
raw bovine skeletal muscle, fat and vertebrae. The research lays the
foundation for development of a prototype device allowing real-time
monitoring of CNS tissue contamination on bovine carcasses and meat
cuts," the report says. US recalls Food
safety is a vital issue for meat processors in the At the
start of this year, 143 million pounds of raw and frozen meat products were
recalled that originated from the Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Company.
Fears were raised that non-ambulatory cattle forced to slaughter might have
bought BSE into the food chain. Several
recalls, amounting to millions of pounds of beef, from Nebraska Beef related
to E. coli have also been instigated in the past few months. Concerns
have also been voiced that the USDA is not taking adequate measures to ensure
the safety of the nation's meat supply. Source:
Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry |
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