ELISA-test for cooked meat species identification on gelatine and gelatine products

The results of the ELISA-test with a commercial cooked meat species identification kit on gelatine and gelatine containing products can be influenced by different gelatine types and concentrations leading to false positive readings. The test cannot be applied especially to meat products containing relatively high amounts of soluble collagens because their extracts form solid gels in the test wells. In this case the different reagents added will penetrate the gels and react with each other. The kit may not speciate reliablely commercial gelatine in isolation or in products where gelatine is the sore animal protein source.