18.01.2013

ifp offers detection of horse meat in burgers

In light of recent events ifp Institut für Produktqualität now also offers to test for horse meat in burgers.

Beef burgers with undeclared percentages of horse meat were found in supermarkets of several international retail chains in Great Britain: the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) repeatedly detected and quantified horse DNA in these products at the supermarkets. In one case burgers contained even 29 % horse meat.

ifp offers customers analytical and consulting services regarding this matter. State-of-the art molecular biological methods (real-time PCR) at ifp allow for highly-specific detection of horse DNA even at trace levels. It is also possible to provide semi-quantitative estimations of the extent of contamination.

The scope of analysis comprises a large range of other animal species, including pig – which was also found in the burgers – beef, sheep or goat, as well as various poultry and fish species. ifp is accredited for the entire range of animal species analytics.