Maha Police To Get Beef Detection Kits – How Do They Work?

How do the Maharashtra Police’s new kits work? Can it differentiate between beef and other meat?

Amid the growing instances of cow vigilantism, the Maharashtra police is all set to procure 45 units of ‘portable beef detectors’. The kits will allow the police to instantly ascertain the nature of the meat consignments.

Officers said the kits are a response to the significant increase in the number of meat samples referred to the Mumbai-based Directorate of Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) in 2016. At least 100 meat samples have been referred to the forensic laboratories each month since the implementation of the Maharashtra Animal Preservation (Amendment) Act, 2015 – which bans the slaughter of cows and calves, FSL director Krishna Kulkarni said.

This clogs the system as every sample requires at least two to three days for its DNA profiling and conclusion, Kulkarni says.

Sources say the kits will be in use from August 2017.

How do these beef detection kits work? Here’s all you need to know:

What’s in the Beef Detection Kit?

The ‘beef detector kits’ are manufactured by Amar Immunodiagnostics. The Hyderabad-based firm claims to be the “world’s first beef detection ELISA test makers” – and also makes testing kits for other meats, diseases and GMO products.

Each of these units costs Rs 8,000, officers revealed.

The Maharashtra police completed the validation process of these detectors in their Mumbai-based laboratory in June, after which it was decided to acquire 45 units.

Is it Easy to Use?

Once a consignment is seized, the concerned officer can put tiny pieces of the meat into the detector. Like a pregnancy test, you can see a change in colour if the meat in question is beef. The reagent in the detector reacts only to cow meat, leading to a change of colour. If the sample tests positive, officers will refer it to us and then further to the Kalina-based laboratory for confirmation.

Krishna Kulkarni, Director, Forensic Science Laboratory

But going by the list of components involved, is it really as uncomplicated as peeing on a stick and waiting?

How Does It Detect Beef?

The kit uses the Enzyme-Linked ImmunoSorbent Assay (ELISA) technology, which detects proteins.

ELISA is a biochemical test that is done to detect the presence of a specific protein when it combines with an antibody.

The kit the Maharashtra Police will turn dark blue and then yellow in a span of forty minutes when it detects raw beef.

A plate of 96 wells is provided in the kit, which is coated with immobilised antibodies found only in beef proteins. The beef being tested is extracted for proteins using a Meat Extraction Buffer solution.

This solution is added to the wells where the beef proteins bind with the antibodies in the wells. This is detected by the addition of the given Enzyme Conjugate.

Since the kit provides wells with specific beef proteins upon procurement, only beef samples will show a positive result in this test. Other meats like buffalo, chicken, fish etc will not combine in the wells and hence, the enzyme won’t detect a change. 

The wells are then washed with a specific Wash Solution – at least thrice – which removes all unbound materials to increase the efficiency of the test. Then the TMB (Tetramethylbenzidine) Substrate is added, which acts as a visualising agent in the presence of the enzyme and changes colour to blue.

When the final Stop Solution (of sulphuric acid) is added, it deactivates the reaction between TMB and the enzyme, and changes the colour of the solution to yellow. This absorbance is then measured on a spectrophotometer. If the reading is above 1.0, the test if positive for beef; if any lower, the meat sample is not from a cow. Here’s a video example of a generic qualitative ELISA test:

This is only a very basic understanding of how the test works. There are a dozen more steps to go through before getting relevant results.

For example, a Positive Control (with a beef-specific antibody) and Negative Control solution (without the antibody; placebo) is tested at the same time with the meat sample to double check results. If all is good, the positive solution well should change to blue definitely while the negative one should show no change at all. If not, there could be interference with the test results.

So Is The Test Foolproof?

There is a whole list of other equipment that is needed to detect beef – like grinding the meat with the extraction buffer in a coffee grinder and later centrifuging the solution on an orbital plate; storing all reagents in a specific temperature range – explicitly mentioned as standard procedure by the manufacturer for optimum results.

All in all, a high standard of care and precision is required for these tests to be done.

These kits only detect raw beef, not cooked beef.

And while, they differentiate between beef and all other meats, including buffalo meat (consumed interchangeably, not legally banned), it does not differentiate between cow meat and bullock meat (also consumed interchangeably), slaughtering of both of which is banned under Section 5 of the Maharashtra Animal Preservation Act.

Cow Meat Detection Kits by Pallavi Prasad on Scribd

Which Policemen Will Have These Kits?

According to state authorities, these units will be placed in the 45 mobile support vans in different parts of the state. These vans, which came into being around six months ago, carry 18 different types of forensic detection kits, including blood, semen, ballistics, among others.

However, owing to the lack of officers specialised in forensic science, these vans have not been put to use so far.

Authorities have now shortlisted 100 police personnel, who have a graduate or postgraduate degree in science. The personnel have been divided into batches of four, and their training will soon commence. Apart from training in the other 18 detection units, they will also be taught how to use the beef detectors.

Krishna Kulkarni

Will These Kits Prevent Spontaneous Mob Violence & Lynchings?

Of course not.

If anything, in the event that the kit detects beef on the spot, there is a higher chance of mob violence against the person accused of possessing the meat.

The procurement of beef detectors will help investigators register prompt First Information Reports (FIRs), Kulkarni says.

However, the test results of the kit, though reliable and efficient, are not independently conclusive. They need to be sent to a laboratory for further DNA testing before the legal process of punishing the holder of the beef begins.

But will the mob wait?