Easy, on-site applicable DNA extraction in combination with LAMP analysis for the early detection of DNA derived from processed animal proteins in poultry feed

The use of processed animal proteins (PAPs) has been re-authorized in feed materials, but the ban on cannibalism is still in place. Food safety authorities perform controls in feed-producing factories, but send limited numbers of samples to official control laboratories, as current methods are time-consuming. Food safety control would, therefore, benefit from early on-site identification of potentially high-risk sample streams with a higher chance of intra-species cross-contamination of the produced feed. In addition, feed producers would benefit from simple assays to check their (ingredient or semi-) materials for potentially fraudulent admixtures or contaminations. To enable fast detection and to address both costs and speed, we developed easy-to-use, on-site applicable loop-mediated amplification (LAMP) assays for the detection of poultry (i.e. chicken, turkey, ducks, geese, and helmeted guineafowl as defined by the European Commission) in highly processed feed materials. Additionally, to demonstrate applicability on-site, the developed DNA-based LAMP assays were combined with easy-to-use DNA extraction and amplification devices, resulting in an entire workflow of less than one hour. The performance of the developed assays was evaluated by testing fresh and processed meat mixtures spiked with poultry meat, and highly processed poultry feed materials spiked with poultry PAPs. A comparison of LAMP with the EURL-AP recommended laboratory qPCR method showed that LAMP performs similarly as qPCR regarding the detection of spiked chicken or turkey meat in fresh meat mixtures, namely 0.1%, but qPCR was found to be slightly more sensitive for the detection of poultry PAPs in highly processed feed materials. • On-site DNA extraction and LAMP for detecting DNA from PAPs in poultry feed • Detection down to 0.1 percent spiked meat or PAP levels in feed and food • Application simple, easy to use DNA extraction and amplification devices