Authentication of grass-fed beef using bovine muscle, hair or urine

• Published in: Trends in food science & technology Vol. 28; no. 2; pp. 69 - 76
• Main Authors: Monahan, F.J., Moloney, A.P., Osorio, M.T., Röhrle, F.T., Schmidt, O., Brennan, L.
• Format: Journal Article Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: Kidlington Elsevier Ltd 01.12.2012; Elsevier
• Subjects: alpha-tocopherol; animal tissues; Authentication; Beef; Biological and medical sciences; cattle; Diets; Food industries; food industry; Foods; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; General aspects; Grasses; Grasslands; Inert; Meat; Meat and meat product industries; Metabolites; Methods of analysis, processing and quality control, regulation, standards; Muscles; nutritive value; production technology; stable isotopes; stereoisomers; Urine; value added; Hair; Urine; Biological fluid; Bovine; Meat product; Vertebrata; Mammalia; Authentication; Quality control; Muscle; Artiodactyla; Beef; Ungulata
• ISSN: 0924-2244; 1879-3053
• DOI: 10.1016/j.tifs.2012.05.005

Food products, such as meat, from grassland production systems have ‘added value’ for both food producers and consumers because of the perceived nutritional value of such products and the environmental acceptability of the production system itself. To differentiate these products from competing products produced without, or with minimal, grass inputs, robust authentication methods are required. This review reports on the application of stable isotope, α-tocopherol stereoisomer and metabolite analyses to authenticate grass-fed beef. The potential for metabolically inert animal tissues to provide an archival record of changes to diet and of urine to yield information, non-invasively, about grass-fed beef production systems is discussed.