Hidden horse and other mislabeled meat revealed in new study

[Sunlei]

More than 20 percent of commercial consumer ground meat products contained a species other than that labeled, researchers find.

"Although extensive meat species testing has been carried out in Europe in light of the 2013 horsemeat scandal, there has been limited research carried out on this topic in the United States," said Rosalee Hellberg, Ph.D., co-author on both studies. "To our knowledge, the most recent U.S. meat survey was published in 1995."

The first study focused on identification of species found in ground meat products as compared to their labels; the second looked at game meat species labeling. Both studies were focused on products sold in the United States commercial market. Both found that mislabeling of meat was not uncommon.

In the first, 48 samples of fresh and frozen ground meat products of various animals were analyzed in the lab to determine their content. They found that 10 of the samples were mislabeled. Of those, nine were found to have more species than the label indicated and one sample was labeled just completely wrong.

http://www.treehugger.com/green-food/you-may-not-be-eating-meat-you-think-study.html

[pipoman]

1. I doubt it

Consider the source....

This may be common in NYC at unscrupulous corner stores....probably if it is it would be pork or chicken ground into beef. In most of the rest of the country, I doubt it.

[Sunlei]

2. Here is the actual DNA-based results paper from "Chapman University, Schmid College of Science and

"Chapman University, Schmid College of Science and Technology, Food Science and Nutrition"


Identification of species in ground meat products sold on the U.S.
commercial market using DNA-based methods
Dawn E. Kane, Rosalee S. Hellberg*
Chapman University, Schmid College of Science and Technology, Food Science and Nutrition, One University Drive, Orange, CA 92866, USA

here someone uploaded the scientific paper http://equinewelfarealliance.org/uploads/Horsemeat_In_US_Food_Chain_-_Kane_Hellberg_2015.pdf

[Sunlei]

3. I checked the sourse of the news story. Here are the references from the scientific paper,

in case you're on a cell phone and can't open PDF files.

References
Ayaz, Y., Ayaz, N. D., & Erol, I. (2006). Detection of species in meat and meat
products using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Journal Muscle Foods,
17(2), 214e220. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-4573.2006.00046.x.
Ballin, N. Z. (2010). Authentication of meat and meat products. Meat Science, 86(3),
577e587. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.meatsci.2010.06.001.
Barreta, J., Gutierrez-Gil, B., Iniguez, V., Saavedra, V., Chiri, R., Latorre, E., et al.
(2013). Analysis of mitochondrial DNA in Bolivian llama, alpaca and vicuna
populations: a contribution to the phylogeny of the South American camelids.
Animal Genetics, 44(2), 158e168. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-
2052.2012.02376.x.
BBC News. (2013). Findus beef lasagne contains up to 100% horsemeat, FSA says. UK:
BBC News. accessible at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-21375594 (accessed
11.12.14).
Cawthorn, D.-M., Steinman, H. A., & Hoffman, L. C. (2013). A high incidence of species
substitution and mislabelling detected in meat products sold in South Africa. Food
Control, 32(2), 440e449. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.foodcont.2013.01.008.
CFR. (2014). Code of federal regulations. Washington, DC: U.S. Gov. Print. Off..
accessible at http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/browse/collectionCfr.action?
collectionCode¼CFR&searchPath¼Titleþ9%2FChapterþIII%2FSubchapterþA%
2FPartþ301&oldPath¼Titleþ9%2FChapterþIII%2FSubchapterþA%
2FPartþ303&isCollapsed¼true&selectedYearFrom¼2014&ycord¼360
(accessed 09.12.14).
CPC. (1998, 2012). California penal code 598. accessible at http://www.leginfo.ca.
gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section¼pen&group¼00001-01000&file¼594-625c
(accessed 08.11.14).
D'Amato, M. E., Alechine, E., Cloete, K. W., Davison, S., & Corach, D. (2013). Where is
the game? Wild meat products authentication in South Africa: a case study.
Investigative Genetics, 4(1). http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/2041-2223-4-6.
Everstine, K., Spink, J., & Kennedy, S. (2013). Economically motivated adulteration
(EMA) of food: common characteristics of EMA incidents. Journal of Food Protection,
76(4), 723e735. http://dx.doi.org/10.4315/0362-028x.jfp-12-399.
FDA. (2010). Federal food, drug, and cosmetic act (FD&C act). 2006. Accessible at
http://www.fda.gov/RegulatoryInformation/Legislation/
FederalFoodDrugandCosmeticActFDCAct/default.htm (accessed 20.12.14).
FDA. (2011). U.S. Food and drug Administration:Warning letter 2/4/11. Chicago, IL: U.S.
Food and Drug Administration. accessible at http://www.fda.gov/ICECI/
EnforcementActions/WarningLetters/2011/ucm242890.htm (accessed 24.12.14).
Flores-Munguia, M. E., Bermudez-Almada, M. C., & Vazquez-Moreno, L. (2000).
A research note: detection of adulteration in processed traditional meat
products. Journal of Muscle Foods, 11(4), 319e325. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/
j.1745-4573.2000.tb00435.x.
FSAI. (2013). FSAI survey finds horse DNA in some beef burger products. Food Safety
Authority of Ireland. accessible at http://www.fsai.ie/news_centre/press_
releases/horseDNA15012013.html (accessed 12.12.14).
Handy, S. M., Deeds, J. R., Ivanova, N. V., Hebert, P. D. N., Hanner, R., Ormos, A., et al.
(2011). Single laboratory validated method for DNA-barcoding for the species
identification of fish for FDA regulatory compliance (Vol. 2014). Silver Spring, MD:
U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Hebert, P. D. N., Cywinska, A., Ball, S. L., & deWaard, J. R. (2003). Biological identifications
through DNA barcodes. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological
Science, 270(1512), 313e321. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2002.2218.
Hebert, P. D. N., Ratnasingham, S., & deWaard, J. R. (2003). Barcoding animal life:
cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 divergences among closely related species.
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Science, 270, S96eS99. http://
dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2003.0025.
Hellberg, R. S., Kawalek, M. D., Van, K. T., Shen, Y., & Williams-Hill, D. M. (2014).
Comparison of DNA extraction and PCR setup methods for use in highthroughput
DNA barcoding of fish species. Food Analytical Methods, 7(10).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12161-014-9865-z.
Hellberg, R. S. R., & Morrissey, M. T. (2011). Advances in DNA-based techniques for
the detection of seafood species substitution on the commercial market. JALA,
16(4), 308e321. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jala.2010.07.004.
Hsieh, Y.-H. P.,Woodward, B. B., & Ho, S.-H. (1995). Detection of species substitution
in raw and cooked meats using immunoassays. Journal of Food Protection, 58(5),
555e559.
Ivanova, N. V., Clare, E. L., & Borisenko, A. V. (2012). DNA barcoding in mammals.
Methods in Molecular Biolgy, 858, 153e182. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-1-
61779-591-6_8.
Library of Congress. (2011). American horse Slaughter prevention act. H.R.2966,
H.R.857. accessible at http://www.congress.gov/bill/112th-congress/house-bill/
2966 (accessed 18.12.14).
Okuma, T. A., & Hellberg, R. S. (2014). Identification of meat species in pet foods
using a real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay. Food Control, 50, 9e17.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.foodcont.2014.08.017.
Ozpinar, H., Tezmen, G., Gokce, I., & Tekiner, I. H. (2013). Detection of animal species
in some meat and meat products by comparatively using DNA microarray and
real time PCR methods. Kafkas Universitesi Veteriner Fakultesi, 19(2), 245e252.
http://dx.doi.org/10.9775/kvfd.2012.7616.
Potter, L. (2012). A timeline of horse slaughter legislation in the United States. accessible
at http://www.horsechannel.com/horse-resources/horse-slaughtertimeline.
aspx (accessed 01.12.14).
Restani, P., Ballabio, C., Tripodi, S., & Fiocchi, A. (2009). Meat allergy. Current Opinion
in Allergy Clinical Immunology, 9(3), 265e269. http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/
ACI.0b013e32832aef3d.
Roth, A. E. (2007). Repugnance as a constraint on markets. Journal of Economic
Perspectives, 21(3), 37e58. http://dx.doi.org/10.1257/jep.21.3.37.
Spink, J., & Moyer, D. C. (2011). Defining the public health threat of food fraud.
Journal of Food Science, 76(9), R157eR163. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1750-
3841.2011.02417.x.
USC. (2011). United States code. Title 21. (Chapter 12). Subchapter IV sec 676(a).
accessible at http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/granule/USCODE-2010-title21/
USCODE-2010-title21-chap12-subchapIV-sec676 (accessed 13.11.14).
USDA. (2011). Game from farm to table. Food Safety Information. accessible at http://
www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/wcm/connect/e432ba38-79f6-42c8-af50-
df7cf788a298/Game_from_Farm_to_Table.pdf?MOD¼AJPERES (accessed
12.12.14).
USDA. (2014a). EConomic research Service. Accessible at http://www.ers.usda.gov/
data-products/meat-price-spreads.aspx (accessed 12.12.14).
USDA. (2014b). USDA Weekly National lamb market summary (Vol. 21). Washington,
DC: U. S. Dep. Agric. accessible at http://www.ams.usda.gov/mnreports/
lswlamb.pdf (accessed 18.12.14).

[Gormy Cuss]

6. Read the paper.

In the first study the content level and types of meat in most samples suggest that it's not intentional mislabeling but rather cross-contamination because the meat grinders weren't properly cleaned after grinding.

[d_r]

4. I ordered bear meat on-line

and I all I got was beaver.

The second study looked at the labeling on game meat species. Game meat is a $39 billion specialty market in the U.S. and accounts for exotic meats which are not the livestock basics included in the Federal Meat Inspection Actand the Poultry Products Inspection Acts. Here the researchers collected 54 products from American online retail shops. Of those, 10 were shown to be mislabeled. Two products described as bison and one as yak were actually plain old domestic cattle. Meanwhile, one product labeled as pheasant that was identified as helmeted guineafowl. Another package labeled as black bear provided something very very not-bear: American beaver.

It would be nice to know the on-line retailers. Wait, maybe it is better that people are getting snookered.

Additionally, there were also five products identified as a near threatened (bison) or threatened (lion) species and these were all determined to be correctly labeled and legally sold.

[Sunlei]

5. That was a weird finding. I didn't even know people sold 'bear' or 'beaver meat'. I was surprised...

no one, not any agency for food safety DNA tests USA retail meat on a regular basis.

Especially meats sold to our school systems.

There seems to be no criminal charges developed for any whole sale of food products, like what happened to the criminals in the uk who sold mislabeled foods.

Their businesses were shut down and the owners had criminal charges.

[d_r]

8. I was at summer camp this summer

and they had nachos one day.

The ground meat for it was just astonishing.

I can't really describe it, but the texture, the form, the way it held together, the taste. I was like "how can this be ground beef? How could anyone make ground beef into this?"

I said something about it and the kids all agreed it was "school lunch ground beef." "Its just like that."

I can't really describe it.

As far as the wild game, that is obviously a scam operation. Personally, I'd rather eat beaver than bear anyway, but that is personal preference. If people are paying for it they should get what they are expecting to get. It would be good to get the word out on those scam sites. That wasn't an accident.

[Orrex]

7. Mmm... Filly mignon.

[catnhatnh]

9. Close...