Detection of central nervous tissue in meat products - An immunohistochemical approach

With regard to bovine spongiforme encephalopathy the consumers' loss of con fidence in meat and meat products as well as the associated economic loss r esult from the lack of adequate methods for the detection of central nervou s tissue in meat and meat products within the scope of official food contro l. The present study has documented for the first time a highly specific im munohistochemical method for the detection of these unwanted ingredients in meat products. Cooked sausages with varying additions of bovine brain (0%, 7.4%, 13.3%) and a 'Bregenwurst' containing 15% of porcine brain were prod uced to serve as reference material. Immunostaining with monoclonal antibod ies against neuron specific enolase (gamma gamma - enolase) specifically re vealed the central nervous tissue added. Advantages of the immunohistochemi cal procedure are the low expenditure of time and cost, the low degree of m ethodological difficulty, and the high specificity of the immunoreaction. B eyond that, food histology as well as neurohistological staining techniques must be regarded as insufficient methods owing to the high degree of techn ology-induced destruction of the central nervous tissue. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Inc.