Development and validation of a SNPs panel used for beef traceability throughout the food chain

Abstract

Meat labelling is important to avoid unfair competition practices of producers, processors and sellers aiming gain an economic advantage from misrepresenting cheaper meat products as premium quality ones. Genetic traceability is an ideal tool for the detection and prevention of fraud in the sale of beef. In this work, a method for validating protected status based on a combination of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and a high-throughput real-time PCR protocol was developed. A total of 1,911 beef samples were used to develop and validate an OpenArray® panel consisting of 26 SNPs selected from an ISAG-ICAR panel. The applicability of the method was determined by comparing 143 blind pairs of samples. The combined probability of identity (PI) with the 26 SNPs selected was 2.09-11 with 22 SNPs showing an individual PI lower than 0.4. In all tests, the blind pair of samples were correctly as-signed. The panel designed and validated in this study is of great utility to confirm genetic content of the specific genetic group tested and detect fraud in a routine way that requires a minimum amount of time and is cost effective.