DNA analysis will not help if a processed meat product has been adulterated with offal from the same species. The traditional test approach is microscopy but this is challenging for highly processed products and requires expert interpretation. Analysis of protein profiles can also be used, but proteins may not be stable to food processing.
In this study (purchase required) the authors propose using a molecular diagnostics method, testing for the messenger RNA (mRNA) that drives the protein production, rather than for the proteins themselves. They scanned through a bovine gene expression database for mRNAs expressed at elevated levels in 10 unwanted offal tissues but not in muscle or adipose tissue. Out of 27,095 candidate transcripts, 3 were eventually selected as markers. Primers and probe sets for RT-PCR analysis of each transcript were designed. Two of the transcripts were shown to be detected by the developed RT-PCR method. The method was validated by specificity, sensitivity, repeatability, and reproducibility parameters
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