Location: Environmental Microbial & Food Safety Laboratory
Project Number: 8042-42000-020-003-S
Project Type: Non-Assistance Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: Apr 1, 2016
End Date: Apr 30, 2019
Objective:
The objective is to evaluate meat and bone meal (MBM) materials using Raman chemical imaging and near-infrared hyperspectral imaging technologies to characterize their spectral and spatial features, for detection and identification of animal meals including ruminant, poultry, swine, and fish meals. The goals are to develop rapid and non-destructive methods to authenticate animal feed and to detect MBM-adulterated animal feed.
Approach:
There is a need for rapid and non-destructive methods to authenticate animal feed that is free of meat and bone meal (MBM), as well as to detect MBM-adulterated animal feed because of the risks of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE or "mad-cow disease"), which is fatal to cattle and humans. Rendered meat and bone meal materials contain mixtures of animal parts in a range of particle sizes. Conventional or commercial Raman spectroscopic systems are ill-suited to characterizing such heterogeneous biological materials. Macro-scale Raman chemical imaging and near-infrared hyperspectral imaging responses will be investigated for multiple types of animal meals. Spatial and spectral analyses from using Raman and hyperspectral imaging technologies will potentially provide a rapid means to determine identification and content of individual meals and meal mixtures.
