Verifying Meat Raw Materials with Species-Specific PCR Detection
What changes on October 18, 2026?
Indonesia's halal assurance rules under Law No. 33 of 2014 and Government Regulation No. 42 of 2024 are being applied in stages. The final stage for food, beverages, slaughter products and slaughter services reaches a large group of businesses at once.
| Date | What applies |
|---|---|
| Oct 17–18, 2024 | Mandatory halal certification takes effect for medium and large enterprises. |
| Oct 17, 2026 | Phasing period ends for micro and small enterprises (UMK). The obligation applies in full from October 18, 2026. |
| By Oct 17, 2026 | Latest date for the obligation to apply to imported food, beverages and slaughter products, subject to mutual recognition arrangements between certification bodies. |
Why raw material verification matters
A halal certificate depends on a documented halal assurance system, and that system starts at the receiving dock. Meat is a high-risk ingredient because species substitution is hard to see once it is ground, marinated, cooked or formed into a product. Pork in a beef meatball, or horse or donkey meat in a bovine batch, cannot be found by looking, smelling or checking a label.
"Species PCR confirms which animal DNA is present in a sample. It does not replace slaughter audits, supplier documents or the halal certificate. It gives your halal assurance team objective, repeatable evidence for the one thing paperwork cannot show: what the material actually is."
How real-time PCR identifies species
Every species carries DNA sequences that differ from other species. A species-specific real-time PCR assay uses primers and fluorescent probes that bind only to the target sequence. If the target DNA is in the extract, the instrument records a rising fluorescence signal during amplification. If it is absent, there is no signal.
DNA survives cooking, canning and other processing far better than proteins do, so the method still works on heated and processed products, and on matrices such as gelatin where visual inspection is impossible. Sensitivity is high: the foodproof® kits described below detect adulteration at the level of parts per million (ppm).
The foodproof® Species Identification Portfolio
| Kit Name | Target / Detects | Tests / Detection Limit | Product No. |
|---|---|---|---|
| foodproof® Animal Detection 1 LyoKit | Porcine, bovine (Bos taurus, Bos indicus) and equine (horse, donkey, zebra) in one multiplex reaction. | 96 tests; down to 0.001% (10 ppm); results in ~2 hours |
KIT230127 (LP) KIT230128 (RP) |
| foodproof® Porcine Detection LyoKit | Porcine (pig) DNA, including in highly processed foods and gelatin products. | 96 tests; 0.0001% (1 ppm) |
KIT230115 (LP) KIT230116 (RP) |
DNA extraction for meat matrices
| Extraction Kit | Format Type | Total Tests | Product No. |
|---|---|---|---|
| foodproof® StarPrep Five Kit | Manual, rapid extraction | 96 | KIT230191 |
| foodproof® Sample Preparation Kit III | Manual, high-quality extraction | 50 | KIT230174 |
| foodproof® Magnetic Preparation Kit III | Automated | 480 | KIT230182 |
Validation and performance
Hygiena reports 100% inclusivity and 100% exclusivity for the foodproof® animal identification range, and testing across muscle meat, ready meals, snack foods and confectionery, milk powder, pet food, gelatin products and pharmaceutical tablets.
The detection limits above were measured with the foodproof® StarPrep Five extraction method, and the Animal Detection 1 instructions for use describe validation on meat products such as lasagna, sausages and minced meat, including pork, beef or horse spiked into chicken meat at 10 ppm.
The product documents we reviewed do not list an AOAC, AFNOR or ISO 16140 certificate for the foodproof® species kits. For halal work, laboratories normally verify the kit in their own scope (e.g., under ISO/IEC 17025), using their own extraction method, instrument and matrices. Ask Hygiena or your Novatech specialist for the current validation package before quoting a certification.
Who benefits most?
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Meat processors (meatball, sausage, nugget producers): Must show control of species in every formulation.
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Importers and distributors: Receiving frozen meat and meat-based ingredients from multiple global origins.
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Contract and commercial laboratories: Adding halal-related species testing as demand grows around the deadline.
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Food service and catering groups: Supplying halal menus and needing a verification step behind supplier claims.
Preparing before the deadline
Teams that wait for the deadline to build a verification routine tend to test reactively, after a complaint or an audit finding.
A better approach is to decide now which raw materials are tested, how often, and what happens on a positive result.
Set up species testing for your laboratory
Talk to our product specialists about foodproof® species identification kits, and validation support for your halal raw material program.