Federal and state laws require that raw and cooked meats be accurately represented as to the species of meat they contain. A total of 806 raw and 96 cooked meat samples collected from Florida retail markets were examined for regulatory control of these products. An agar-gel immunodiffusion method was used for the identification of beef, pork and horse species in uncured raw meats. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays were used to identify poultry and sheep in raw meats and all species in cured raw meats and cooked meats. A positive violative sample was reported only if the target extraneous species present exceeded a 1% level. Results indicated that the overall rate of substituted species in both cooked and raw meat samples was 16.6%. Percentage of violation in cooked products was higher than that in raw meats (22.9% versus 15.9%). The undeclared species found in ground beef and veal products included sheep, pork and poultry, in descending order of frequency. The major substituting species found in ground pork, ground turkey and ground lamb, however, was beef. Horse meat was not detected in any sample tested. Intact pieces of raw meat tested were all correctly labeled. The source of substitution/contamination also was investigated and discussed. Current retail practices in meat markets show a significant problem with mixing of undeclared species in ground and comminuted meat products.

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A total of 121 retail market snapper fillets were collected throughout Florida and tested for compliance with labeling regulations. Samples were identified as to species by isoelectric focusing techniques against 12 authentic snapper species. Of the 81 red snapper samples, 24 (30%) were confirmed as real red snapper (Lutjanus campechanus), while 57 (70%j were mislabeled. Most of the other snapper species were correctly labeled. The major substitute for red snapper was scarlet snapper (Lutjanus sanguineus), an imported red-skin Pacific snapper species. Nomenclature of fish sold in the market is confusing since the same species of fish is frequently sold by several different names.4To whom correspondence should be sent.

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A microwave digestion procedure, followed by Inductively Coupled Argon Plasma Spectroscopy, is described for the determination of boron (B) in human plasma. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) currently does not certify the concentration of B in any substance. The NIST citrus leaves 1572 (CL) Standard Reference Material (SRM) and wheat flour 1567a (WF) were chosen to determine the efficacy of digestion. CL and WF values compare favorably to those obtained from an open-vessel, wet digestion followed by ICP, and by neutron activation and mass spectrometric measurements. Plasma samples were oxidized by doubled-distilled ultrapure HNO3 in 120 mL PFA Teflon vessels. An MDS-81D microwave digestion procedure allows for rapid and relatively precise determination of B in human plasma, while limiting handling hazards and sources of contamination.