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DNA Forensics in Combating Food Frauds:A Study from China in Identifying Canned Meat Labelled as Deer Origin


Affiliations
1 State Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Evolution and Yunnan Laboratory of Molecular Biology of Domestic Animals, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming 650223, Yunnan, China
2 Guangzhou Institute of Pediatrics, Guangzhou Women and Children’s Medical Center, Guangzhou 510623, Guangdong, India
3 Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun 248 001, India
4 Gujarat Forensic Sciences University, Gandhinagar 382 007, India
5 University School of Environment Management, Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, Delhi 110 078, India
6 Allahabad High Court, Allahabad 211 001, India
 

Now-a-days processed and canned food products are consumed in increasing quantity in all developing and developed countries following changes in human lifestyle. However, customers are often fooled by products they buy and such frauds frequently go unreported since species identification requires technical inputs and considerable time and efforts. We bought two canned meat packets labelled as 'classic delicious deer meat' from Shanghai Pudong International Airport, Shanghai (People's Republic of China) to understand its origin as deer meat is legally prohibited in many parts of the world. In this study, we screened these samples with DNA barcoding approach using conserved mitochondrial genes. Homology search on NCBI and phylogenetic analysis identified these samples to have originated from a domestic pig of China. We propose that the methodology used is appropriate for identifying the processed and canned food products and further suggest to check the labelling regulations to guarantee the protection of consumers' rights.

Keywords

Canned Food, DNA Forensics, Food Frauds, Mitochondrial Genes, Species Identification.
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  • DNA Forensics in Combating Food Frauds:A Study from China in Identifying Canned Meat Labelled as Deer Origin

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Authors

Mukesh Thakur
State Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Evolution and Yunnan Laboratory of Molecular Biology of Domestic Animals, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming 650223, Yunnan, China
Ruheena Javed
Guangzhou Institute of Pediatrics, Guangzhou Women and Children’s Medical Center, Guangzhou 510623, Guangdong, India
Ved Prakash Kumar
Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun 248 001, India
Malay Shukla
Gujarat Forensic Sciences University, Gandhinagar 382 007, India
Neha Singh
University School of Environment Management, Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, Delhi 110 078, India
Aishwarya Maheshwari
Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun 248 001, India
Nipun Mohan
Allahabad High Court, Allahabad 211 001, India
Dong-Dong Wu
State Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Evolution and Yunnan Laboratory of Molecular Biology of Domestic Animals, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming 650223, Yunnan, China
Ya-Ping Zhang
State Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Evolution and Yunnan Laboratory of Molecular Biology of Domestic Animals, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming 650223, Yunnan, China

Abstract


Now-a-days processed and canned food products are consumed in increasing quantity in all developing and developed countries following changes in human lifestyle. However, customers are often fooled by products they buy and such frauds frequently go unreported since species identification requires technical inputs and considerable time and efforts. We bought two canned meat packets labelled as 'classic delicious deer meat' from Shanghai Pudong International Airport, Shanghai (People's Republic of China) to understand its origin as deer meat is legally prohibited in many parts of the world. In this study, we screened these samples with DNA barcoding approach using conserved mitochondrial genes. Homology search on NCBI and phylogenetic analysis identified these samples to have originated from a domestic pig of China. We propose that the methodology used is appropriate for identifying the processed and canned food products and further suggest to check the labelling regulations to guarantee the protection of consumers' rights.

Keywords


Canned Food, DNA Forensics, Food Frauds, Mitochondrial Genes, Species Identification.

References





DOI: https://doi.org/10.18520/cs%2Fv112%2Fi12%2F2449-2452