Scientists working on test to instantly detect Mad Cow Disease during slaughter

A test to instantly detect beef contaminated with tissue from a cow's brain or spinal cord during slaughter is currently under development at Kansas State University. The detection of fluorescent pigment lipofuscin is believed to be a reliable indicator for the presence of suspect tissue in bovine carcasses and meat cuts.

Researchers at Kansas State University are developing a test for instantly detecting beef that has been contaminated with tissue from a cow's brain or spinal cord during slaughter — an advance in protecting against possible spread of the human form of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) or Mad Cow Disease.

The test would be the first of its kind. The research, done in collaboration with the National Animal Disease Center of the USDA-Agricultural Research Service and Iowa State University, is published in the August 13 issue of the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.

Jürgen A. Richt, DVM, PhD, and colleagues in the diagnostic medicine and pathobiology department write that removal of brain, spinal and other central nervous tissue after slaughter is "one of the highest priority tasks to avoid contamination of the human food chain with bovine spongiform encephalopathy. No currently available method enables the real-time detection of possible central nervous system (CNS) tissue contamination on carcasses during slaughter."

Their test is based on detection of the fluorescent pigment lipofuscin, a substance that appears in high concentrations in the nervous tissue of cattle. The researchers found that it was a dependable indicator for the presence of brain and spinal tissue in bovine carcasses and meat cuts. Small quantities of bovine spinal cord were reliably detected in the presence of raw bovine skeletal muscle, fat and vertebrae.

The research lays the foundation for development of a prototype device allowing real-time monitoring of CNS tissue contamination on bovine carcasses and meat cuts, according to the report.

Citation:

J. Agric. Food Chem., 56 (15), 6220–6226, 2008. 10.1021/jf0734368