Abstract
The use of mechanically separated meat (MSM) from poultry in meat and sausage products is subject to declaration. Current methods such as microscopy or calcium analysis have proven to be insufficient to ensure the specific detection of MSM in meat and sausage products. When using MSM during production, intervertebral disc and cartilage specific proteins from chicken unavoidably end up in the sausages. Thus, a pseudo-MRM-LC–MS/MS-based assay was developed and validated, which uses intervertebral disc and cartilage specific peptides to detect MSM in meat and sausage products. All five marker peptides were assigned to collagen II alpha 1 which makes up a large part of the proteome of intervertebral discs and cartilage. In order to evaluate the validity of the methodology, a total of 23 positive controls (MSM content 5–90%) and a total of 19 negative controls were examined in a blinded study. After unblinding, 22 of 23 positive controls were correctly classified. Only one self-produced sample with 5% MSM was declared as a negative case (overall sensitivity 96%). In contrast, all negative controls were correctly classified as negative (specificity 100%). In summary, the LC–MS/MS assay allowed the specific detection of MSM in real samples with unknown composition down to 10% MSM in the meat content.Graphical abstract
Highlights
The substitution of high-priced with low-priced ingredients can be observed in the food industry, e.g., the “horse meat scandal in 2013” (Premanandh 2013) or silver-medal awarded sausages which were made from mechanically separated meat (MSM) (Deter 2018)
Even reputable producers are placed under the general suspicion of adding MSM undeclared, since negative evidence cannot be provided
Differences in the proteome of different chicken compartments such as breast meat, thigh meat, skin, tendons, offal, intervertebral discs/cartilage, and scraped off meat were identified by untargeted bottom-up LC–Mass spectrometry (MS)/MS
Summary
According to the Directive Regulation (EC) No 853/2004 (European Commission 2004), MSM is a product that is “obtained by removing meat from flesh-bearing bones after boning or from poultry carcases, using mechanical means. In 2010 and 2011, around 129,000 tons (64, 000 t from poultry and pork, respectively; European Commission 2013) of mechanically separated meat (MSM) referred to as mechanically deboned meat or mechanically recovered meat were produced in Germany alone. As stated by the European Commission, a total of 60,000 tons of MSM from poultry and pork were exported to other member states or to third countries. The whereabouts of an additional total of 70,000 tons of MSM remained unknown (European Commission 2015, Foodwatch 2014). MSM is currently detected microscopically via the visual detection of bone fragments from the meat sample, which may contaminate the meat pulp due to the mechanical production process (Tremlova et al 2006; Mohamed et al. Vol.:(0123456789)
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