Nearly half of the world’s total population is strictly prohibited to consume pork and any substances derived from animal blood. However, food ingredients derived from pork and blood are widely used and present in various forms of dietary products without the awareness of consumers and even regulators.
Analytical tools for monitoring these materials are lacking. Our laboratory at FSU possesses the only reliable technology to protect consumers who avoid eating products containing pork and blood, and such technology has been frequently sought for commercialization by a number of domestic and international companies for consumer protection in the markets of Kosher food for 13.8- million Jews; Halal foods for 1.6-billion Muslims; 1 billion of Hindus and non-religious vegans/vegetarians.
The most desirable detection method is enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) which, coupled with our panel of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) is able to detect protein ingredients derived from pork and blood components. These unique monoclonal antibodies are able to detect pork and blood from processed and cooked samples.
