DNA Analysis on Metro-Vancouver Sausages

Abstract

This study investigated the labelling of sausage meats in the Metro Vancouver area. A total of six different sausages were sampled from three vendors in the region. The six sausages were labelled by the vendors as: four S. domesticus (pork), one B. taurus (beef) and one G. domesticus (chicken). As the homogeneity of the sausages was unknown, three distinct locations on each sausage link were sampled (the middle and two ends of the sausage). DNA isolation, PCR and Gel electrophoresis were conducted on the samples. We found out that three pork-only sausages were labelled correctly. One sausage was labelled pork-only, but traces of O. aries (sheep) DNA were also found along with S. domesticus (pork). Results of the G. domesticus (chicken) and B. taurus (beef) sausage were unclear, and as such, no species could be concluded from the labelled sausages. Possible errors during the experiment caused beef and chicken to have such a result. However, the possibility of them containing species we did not test for also remains. Our experiment resulted in a lower-than-reported percentage of correctly reported meat in Canada. However, due to the small sample size, the experiment result can be insignificant. Thus, further studies on this topic are needed to yield a significant result. The result has shown that mislabelled meats are still available for sale in the Metro Vancouver area.