When you go grocery shopping you expect to get what’s labelled on the packages you purchase, but that may not always be the case.

Several studies have shown that some of the fish and meat we buy isn't actually what it seems. This past summer University of Guelph research found one in five sausages contained animal products not listed on the label, and one even had horsemeat in it.

Now a team of UBC researchers is trying to do something about it. Yaxi Hu and her colleagues have developed a quick and easy test that can detect foreign products in meat.

“Food fraud is a pretty large global issue,” explained Hu.

The researchers developed a laser spectrometer that uses light which bounces off molecules and can tell the difference between lean muscle and organ meat.

“[The molecules] would be like the fingerprints of the meat samples,” Hu said.

The device was able to determine with 99 per cent accuracy whether ground beef samples included other animal parts. It was also able to tell with 80 per cent accuracy which animal parts were used, and in what concentration.

The spectrometer gives much faster results than DNA and other forms of testing. And although it’s in the early phases, Hu hopes to put this technology in the hands of food inspectors so they can easily test meat samples out in the field and make sure products contain what is on their labels.

And as the technology improves and becomes more affordable the team is hopeful it will one day be available to all consumers to take to their local supermarket.

“That’s our ultimate goal,” said Hu.

Right now there’s no timeline when the technology will be commercially viable, but Hu doesn’t expect it will take long as there’s already testing being done to turn smartphones into spectrometers for medical diagnostic tools.