Increased awareness among consumers concerning food safety and security has prompted a significant increase in the need to verify food product fidelity. As consumer choice is often greatly influenced by food composition as indicated by product labelling, particularly in the meat industry, the accuracy of this information is of great importance. For the purpose of verifying the presence or absence of a particular species in food, mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is often used. Unlike nuclear DNA (nDNA), mtDNA is only inherited maternally, and is therefore significantly less diverse in its composition. As such, while mtDNA cannot be used to distinguish between individuals of the same species, it is far more effective at distinguishing between different species. At present, Unistel Medical Laboratories offers mitochondrial species identification for the following species:

• Bovine
• Fish
• Equine
• Chicken
• Buffalo
• Ovine
• Porcine
• Ostrich
• Canine

Sample requirements:

For mitochondrial testing, the sample of choice is meat.

Animal Genetics price list documents can here found here.