Too many food safety issues, use rapid test kits to check for yourself
Food safety scandals keep erupting in Taiwan, China - even the long-established I-Mei Foods used expired ingredients. The Homemakers United Foundation recently invited a biotech company to teach consumers how to use simple rapid test kits to easily detect drug residues in meat and milk; but the Homemakers United Foundation also reminded consumers that testing is only a last resort - choosing certified, trustworthy producers is the fundamental solution.
Rapid test kit detects lean meat powder in 15 minutes
Food additive problems are numerous - even if consumers buy unprocessed meat and milk, they may still ingest lean meat powder or antibiotics. To let the public safeguard their own safety, a manufacturer has developed a rapid test kit that can accurately detect lean meat powder, antibiotics, melamine and other drug residues in food within just over ten minutes. The Homemakers United Foundation recently invited the manufacturer to demonstrate on site how to test for lean meat powder, and pointed out several common mistakes made by the public.
The lean meat powder rapid test strip looks similar to a pregnancy test strip. After dripping about three drops of meat juice, wait 5 to 15 minutes. If two lines appear on the test strip, it means safe, no contamination; if only one line appears, it may contain lean meat powder. Test kit manufacturer salesman Zhang Zhifeng taught everyone a simple mnemonic: if there are two lines, use your fingers to make a YA sign - that means safe!
Currently, the accuracy rate of the lean meat powder rapid test strip is as high as 95%, but many people easily make errors when extracting meat juice.
Zhang Zhifeng stated that the test kit can only test fresh meat - the fresher the meat, the lower the error. When testing, avoid taking too much fat, which can clog the test strip. The best method is to put the meat in a microwave to defrost or heat it in a water bath, letting the meat juice flow out naturally; it is not recommended for people to press with their hands, because first, what is squeezed out is fat, and second, once you let go, the meat juice gets absorbed back.
The lean meat powder rapid test kit can only separately detect ractopamine, salbutamol, and clenbuterol hydrochloride. Domestically, only a residue of 10 ppb of ractopamine is allowed in beef, while it is completely prohibited in pork; but Zhang Zhifeng stated that salbutamol is the main illegal lean meat powder used domestically, and its toxicity is 2,000 times that of ractopamine. It has been detected in pigs, ducks, and geese, and excessive consumption can cause nausea, palpitations, elevated blood pressure, and more.
Choosing trustworthy producers is the fundamental solution
Besides lean meat powder, common veterinary drugs in meat also include sulfonamides and chloramphenicol, while melamine may be added to milk to boost protein content. Currently, rapid test kits exist for both sulfonamides and melamine, but Zhang Zhifeng stated that rapid testing only provides preliminary screening - if there is a problem, machine testing is still required.
The Homemakers United Foundation emphasized that testing is only the final checkpoint - the most important thing is still to buy food with quality assurance, choose trustworthy producers, and use consumer power to stop unscrupulous manufacturers.
