Current progress on meat food authenticity detection methods

Meat adulteration could be intentional or unintentional, which may infringe consumers’ rights and interests, endanger public health, disrupt the market, and hinder the development of the meat industry. Determining fast and efficient meat adulteration detection methods is therefore critical for the development of the food industry and the safety of consumers. Based on the classification of target substances, adulteration detection technologies are classified in protein-, metabolite-, or nucleic acids-based. Although these detection techniques have yielded good identification results when applied to meat adulteration detection, certain shortcomings are still observed. This review aims to summarize the latest progress on meat adulteration detection technologies, thus providing a reference basis for food safety and surveillance departments and researchers within this field.