Colorimetric Detection of Horse Meat Based on Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification (LAMP)

Meat authentication and meat adulteration have become a growing global concern leading to consumers’ demand for accurate meat identification methods. Since existing methods for meat identification are cumbersome and require specialized equipment and/or training, we developed a specific colorimetric detection method that can rapidly identify horse meat as few as 0.1% contamination in xenogeneic meat sources within 1 h with no false-positive signals observed. Specificity analysis revealed no cross-reactivity with 14 other animal species. Therefore, a rapid on-site survey based on our method can be set up to identify undeclared meat in the food supply chain and contributes to an approach on food analysis by meeting the demands for quick and easy-to-perform analytical methods.