The goal of the Brief is to summarize the state of the art on the chemical safety issues currently concerning meat and poultry, and to discuss the current international legislation on the tools available for their control. The Brief will review the analytical controls and instrumentation available for the control of residues of growth promoters, antibiotics, and any other environmental substances in raw meat and poultry. In addition, there will be a discussion of both the substances that may be generated as a consequence of processing, and the tools that are available for their control. These substances may be quite varied in nature; they may include, for example, the heterocyclic amines generated by heating, the nitrosamines sometimes present in cured meats with nitrite if not properly processed, the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons that can be generated depending on the type of smoking used, or the biogenic amines that can be generated during fermentation. Finally, the controls for the detection of foreign proteins (e.g., whey proteins) in the final products will be also compiled. The Brief will conclude with a view of future trends and key references for readers interested in learning more about this topic.
