The use of PCR method for adulteration detection of goat dairy products manufactured by smallholders

The analysis of food adulteration is an important element of improving health safety. Both accidental and intentional adulteration of food, can cause serious health consequences for humans and can be considered as health hazard. In recent years, molecular biology techniques has been increasingly used in food analysis due to their high precision and the ability to obtain results in a short time, as well as the identification and quantitative determination of food adulterants. The samples tested in the study were goat's milk, yogurts, fresh and ripening cheeses produced by smallholders all over Poland. The analysis included DNA isolation, which was used as template for duplex PCR and detection of goat’s and cow’s mitochondrial DNA fragments. The obtained results indicate that the applied technique enabled the rapid identification of adulteration in analyzed goat’s milk products, among which in only one product out of thirty five the presence of undeclared cow’s milk was detected. This indicates good food safety standards applied on small-scale farms. • Accidental and intentional adulteration of food can be considered as health risk. • Adulteration analysis is based on the detection of protein allergens or encoding them genes. • Duplex PCR is reliable tool for detection of cow milk in goat milk products.