New BSE Test Could Help Allay Meat Safety Fears

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 US study.

Researchers, who worked in conjunction with the National Animal Disease Center of the U.S. Agriculture Department’s Agricultural Research Service, said a new real-time monitoring test of possible central nervous system (CNS) contamination during slaughter would provide an additional, science-based tool for sanitation measures in abattoirs. This could have applications in helping to prevent the onset of BSE.

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 UK.

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 Iowa State University.

“A benefit to the beef production industry would be an improved product quality assurance and would result in increased consumer protection,” added the researchers.

Source: FoodProductionDaily.com