DNA profiling leaves no room for beefs

The Irish Times - Thursday, January 17, 2013

DICK AHLSTROM

ANALYSIS:Advanced genetic technologies are making it increasingly difficult for food producers to misrepresent their products. DNA analysis readily detected the sometimes minute quantities of pig and horse meat found in the burger products tested.

It also points up the challenge faced by bodies such as the Food Safety Authority of Ireland, which commissioned the DNA tests.

It is not feasible to check every meat product that comes into the country and so our supermarket shelves may still be displaying burgers that contain meat other than the expected beef.

DNA fingerprinting

The DNA technology used to test the meat, sometimes referred to as DNA fingerprinting or profiling, was developed by Alec Jeffreys at the University of Leicester back in 1984. It allowed one DNA profile to be compared directly with another.

Within three years it developed into a service mostly used to prove or disprove paternity.

The huge public scare triggered by so-called mad cow disease and its transmission to humans encouraged the adaptation of the technology to animals.

Trinity College Dublins Prof Patrick Cunningham converted the technology and co-founded DNA profiling company IdentiGEN.

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DNA profiling leaves no room for beefs