Determination of Different Types of Milk in Commercially Sold Goat Cheeses by Real-Time Pcr Method

Abstract

Food mislabeling impacts consumer rights and informed choices, especially for premium products with designated origins. Ingredient substitutions can lower quality, dilute identity, and distort fair competition. Developed nations employ strict national and international regulations to combat this issue. This study aimed to accurately and reliably detect the presence of cow and sheep milk in cheeses labeled as "100% Goat Milk" using the RT-PCR method. 100 cheese samples with different production dates and batch numbers labeled "100% Goat Milk" were collected from markets. In the samples, RT-PCR TaqMan probe method was used to qualitatively detect the species-specific region in mitochondrial DNA and discrimination was made at the species level. In the study, it was determined that 76% of the cheese samples (76 out of 100 cheeses) labeled with the "100% Goat Milk" label did not comply with the expression on the label. Pure cow's milk was detected in 27% (27) of the cheese samples, pure sheep's milk in 4% (4), goat and cow's milk in 9% (9), cow and sheep's milk in 16% (16), and goat, sheep and cow's milk in 17% (17). The study reveals that cheeses containing goat milk are significantly adulterated and emphasizes the need for meticulous monitoring during production and sale. In conclusion, The RT-PCR method is recommended as an effective diagnostic method with the ability to detect low levels of sheep and cow milk in goat cheeses.