Determining the species from which gelatine is derived has in the past been very difficult as the gelatine production process renders traditional DNA-based techniques redundant. To meet producer and consumer needs, Fera, a Partner in GFAR, has introduced a testing technique called GelSpec. The result of 5 years of development and validation on a range of foods and ingredients, GelSpec uses state of the art technology and a unique database to determine the identity of the species from which the gelatine is derived. It allows food producers to be confident in their labelling and ensure that their products do not compromise consumer religious concerns such as those relating to Halal and Kosher.

GelSpec identifies the origin of gelatine (bovid or porcine) using high-resolution mass spectrometry by detecting minute differences in the amino acid sequence of the gelatine protein and comparing with an extensive unique proprietary database built up over many years in order to specify the species of origin and contains scores of species specific peptides.

For more information on GelSpec and gelatin speciation, visit the Fera website. 

To download the GelSpec Whitepaper, click here.