Analytical methods for authentication of fresh vs. thawed meat – A review

Proper labeling of meat products is important to ensure fair-trading and to enable consumers to make informed choices. Different investigations indicate that wrong labeling where thawed meat is labeled as fresh meat is present in 8–15% of analyzed samples. Enforcement of regulations requires adequate analytical methods where enzymatic-, DNA based-, spectroscopic-, bio imaging- and sensory techniques constitute the majority of published papers. The molecular changes that these techniques detect are described. The capability of both discrimination between fresh and thawed meat, and determination of frozen storage time are discussed for each of the analytical techniques. The products included in this review are primarily whole meat from Bos taurus (cow), Sus scrofus (pig) and Gallus gallus (chicken). The best analytical choice in the discrimination of fresh vs. thawed meat is concluded to be a combination of analytical methods.