| Abstract: |
The University of British Columbia has good news for anyone who's been a little nervous about sinking their teeth into a juicy hamburger ever since horse meat was found in European beef a few years ago. Researchers at the university have developed a new technique to identify unwanted animal products in ground beef, using a laser-equipped spectrometer and statistical analysis. DNA testing can already identify foreign species in meat products, but it can't locate offal, such as hearts, livers, kidneys and stomachs, mixed in with meat of the same species. UBC's new technique can do both. 'We think this might be a way to fill the gap,' said Yaxi Hu, a PhD candidate in UBC's faculty of land and food systems, as well as the study's lead author. |
