By By Anne Sewell Apr 16, 2013 in Food Cape Town - Just when you were getting used to the idea of horse DNA in your food, now South African experts are saying that there is a strong possibility of finding human DNA in meat products too. When an MP questioned why human DNA could be found in meat products, Stellenbosch University professor of meat sciences Louwrens C. Hoffman said that "Workers are often cutting themselves. If we had done DNA tests, we probably would have found traces of human DNA in the products." "If I walked into a factory and the sample I randomly selected to test was a meat sample of which the person de-boning the meat had just picked his nose and then touched the meat, I would get a totally different microbial reading," he said. The hearing was held in response to the recent horsemeat scandal in Europe and the fact that it had been decided that South Africa's meat production industry should also be investigated and tests run, which also led to Modisane said that the real issue both locally and in Europe was that the products were labeled incorrectly, and that so far there had been no real health risk. Apparently when research was conducted by both universities, traces of animal meat other than indicated were found in several samples. Maria D'Amato, University of the Western Cape associate professor of genetics said that she had found the DNA traces of four different animals in one beef sausage. However, D'Amato said that none of the meat found was illegal in terms of what may be slaughtered and consumed by the public. "This study confirms that the mislabeling of processed meats is commonplace in South Africa and not only violates food labeling regulations but also poses economic, religious, ethical and health impacts," Hoffman said. MP's have now demanded that the three governmental departments work together closely to ensure no future food scandals. The announcement was made during briefings from the Department of Health, Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, and the Department of Trade and Industry, along with Stellenbosch University and the University of the Western Cape.When an MP questioned why human DNA could be found in meat products, Stellenbosch University professor of meat sciences Louwrens C. Hoffman said that "Workers are often cutting themselves. If we had done DNA tests, we probably would have found traces of human DNA in the products.""If I walked into a factory and the sample I randomly selected to test was a meat sample of which the person de-boning the meat had just picked his nose and then touched the meat, I would get a totally different microbial reading," he said. However , according to Botlhe Modisane, deputy director-general of the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries: "It is possible that (if tested) we could find traces of human DNA in meat. However, even if we do find human DNA, it does not mean we are eating human flesh," which is somewhat reassuring.The hearing was held in response to the recent horsemeat scandal in Europe and the fact that it had been decided that South Africa's meat production industry should also be investigated and tests run, which also led to local scandals about the mislabeling of various meat products.Modisane said that the real issue both locally and in Europe was that the products were labeled incorrectly, and that so far there had been no real health risk.Apparently when research was conducted by both universities, traces of animal meat other than indicated were found in several samples. Maria D'Amato, University of the Western Cape associate professor of genetics said that she had found the DNA traces of four different animals in one beef sausage. However, D'Amato said that none of the meat found was illegal in terms of what may be slaughtered and consumed by the public. Stellenbosch University found that 68% of the 139 samples tested contained other animal meat than was declared in the ingredients and that burgers and deli meats were the worst offenders."This study confirms that the mislabeling of processed meats is commonplace in South Africa and not only violates food labeling regulations but also poses economic, religious, ethical and health impacts," Hoffman said.MP's have now demanded that the three governmental departments work together closely to ensure no future food scandals. More about South Africa, stellenbosch university, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, abattoir, Horsemeat More news from South Africa stellenbosch univers... Agriculture Forestry and Fisheri... abattoir Horsemeat goat meat horse dna