Tracing the geographical origin of beefs being circulated in Korean markets based on stable isotopes.
We have examined the carbon, nitrogen and oxygen isotopic compositions of American, Mexican, Australian, New Zealand and Korean beefs, which are currently being circulated in Korean markets, to check whether stable isotope ratios can identify their country of origin. Each beef exhibited statistically distinct isotopic compositions, especially in oxygen and carbon, because of the different isotopic compositions of their water and cattle feeds. Nevertheless, their isotopic compositions still showed some overlap, especially among USA, Australian, and Korean beefs, which sometimes resulted in significant misidentification when a single isotope was considered. However, the discrimination was generally successful when both the carbon and the oxygen isotopes were used.
Bong
Yeon-Sik
YS
Division of Earth & Environmental Sciences, Korea Basic Science Institute, 113 Gwahangno, Yusung-gu, Daejeon 305-333, Korea.
Shin
Woo-Jin
WJ
Lee
A-Reum
AR
Kim
Young-Soo
YS
Kim
Kangjoo
K
Lee
Kwang-Sik
KS
D005504:Food Analysis / Q000379:methods*; D005515:Food Labeling / Q000379:methods*; D005843:Geography; D007553:Isotope Labeling / Q000379:methods*; D007723:Korea; D013058:Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods*; D008460:Meat / Q000032:analysis* / Q000145:classification*