Meat Testing
Ambient Mass Spectrometry
Developed over a 10-year period by Professor Chris Elliott and his team at the Institute for Global Food Security at Queen’s University Belfast, meat testing using the technique known as Rapid Evaporative Ionisation Mass Spectrometry (‘REIMS’).
REIMS not only can identify the species of animal, but it can also identify the breed, country of origin, whether or not it is organic, its maturation, and even eating quality.
All of these parameters could be contained in a single test truly represents a ground-breaking advance.
Working in collaboration with Queens University, this test represents ground-breaking technology for meat authenticity analysis that will empower businesses to make quick decisions and provide additional confidence in the integrity of their products.
REIMS technology is rapid, economical and allows for vastly greater numbers of samples to be tested in the same or shorter timescales as existing techniques.
Another considerable advantage of the REIMS approach is the inclusion of a simple hand-held probe, eliminating the need for sample preparation and thus can deliver test results within minutes.
By utilising REIMS, we can determine quality and consumer preference simultaneously from the same sample analysis.
REIMS represents an innovative and evolving approach to meat testing
This is cutting edge, evolving technology with a multitude of potential applications including:
- Country of origin
- Speciation
- Adulteration (eg with Horse meat, pork etc in beef), detection of filler (eg collagen),
- Detection of animal by-product, (eg spinal material),
- Eating quality and consumer preference (eg cut, taste and tenderness).
Test against predefined data
These tests are not limited to beef but also have applications in fish and crustaceans, pork, lamb, poultry etc. If the question is around authenticity, we can compare against our known data to determine whether a submitted sample fits against what an authentic sample looks like.
Routine testing as standard
Samples may be submitted as part of a customer’s routine checks on new suppliers, spot checks on existing suppliers or targeted checks in response to suspicions, such as whistle-blowers, etc. This can be conducted at the same time as routine authenticity testing, adding additional value for each sample that is analysed.
Speed and accuracy
REIMS technology is rapid, economical and allows for vastly greater numbers of samples to be tested in the same or shorter timescales as existing techniques.
Discover how REIMS can help
Get in touch with us today for further information and to find out how we can help.