The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) requires practical analytical methods for detecting, quantifying, and identify residues that may be present in meat, poultry, and their processed products at levels above established safe residue limits. These methods can be used by the Agency for monitoring and surveillance activities to determine whether product is adulterated. The Agency uses available methodology to take appropriate regulatory action against adulterated products, consistent with the reliability of the analytical data. However, because of the large number of potential residues that may occur in the food chain, practical methods are not available for many compounds of interest. This section describes the types of methods used by FSIS to conduct analyses and their suitability for regulatory use. A list of key terms precedes the method descriptions. Note that the chemistry method descriptions, with some few exceptions, are referenced to the latest edition of the FSIS Analytical Chemistry Laboratory Guidebook.

1. CRITERIA FOR PRACTICAL METHODS
   
   The following criteria have been identified as primary concerns for methods suitable for regulatory use.
   
   
   1. The method requires no more than 2-4 hours of analytical time per sample.
      
      
   2. A quality assurance plan has been developed for the method.
      
      
2. KEY TERMS

AAS -- Atomic Absorption Spectrometry

AOAC -- Association of Official Analytical Chemists

CELIA, CA -- Competitive Enzyme Labeled Immunoassay for Chloramphenicol: a laboratory test that detects and identifies chloramphenicol residues in cattle and pork muscle

ECD -- Electron capture detector

EI -- Electron impact

ELISA -- Enzyme-Linked Immuno Sorbent Assay

E-Z SCREEN -- A proprietary immunoassay system for rapid detecting and identifying various antibiotics and other residues in tissue extracts

GC -- Gas chromatography

GLC -- Gas liquid chromatography

GPC -- Gel Permeation Chromatography

HFAA - Heptaflourobutyric acid anhydride.

HPLC -- High pressure liquid chromatography

JAOAC -- Journal of the Association of Official Analytical Chemists

LDL -- Lowest detectable limit. The smallest amount of individual residue or sample component that can be reliably observed or found in the sample matrix by the current appropriate methodology

MIC -- Minimum inhibitory concentration: the minimum amount of antimicrobial compound present in a buffer extract of tissue that will inhibit bacterial growth in a cell culture media

MPL -- Minimum proficiency level: the minimum amount of analyte expected to be identified and quantified by a laboratory and upon which ongoing capability will be evaluated. It is the smallest concentration for which the predicted coefficient of variation for reproducibility (CV) is less than or equal to 20 percent and the upper 90 percent confidence level for the predicted CV is less than 30 percent

MS -- Mass spectrometry

NADA -- New Animal Drug Application, issued by the Center for Veterinary Medicine Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

NE -- Level not established

NICI -- Negative ion chemical ionization

PICI -- Positive ion chemical ionization

PP -- Processed product

QUANTIFICATION -- The determination of the amount of residue present in a sample

REFERENCE METHODS -- Analytical procedures by which other methods may be evaluated and for which standards are established. These methods are considered suitable for regulatory use in the National Residue Program

RESIDUE -- Any compound present in edible tissues of the target of the animal that results from that compound's use or from unintentional introduction into the animal. "Residue" includes the compound itself, its metabolite, and other substances formed in or on food because of the compound's use or inadvertent introduction

SOS -- Sulfa-on-Site: a rapid in-plant chemical screening test for detecting residues in food animal urine or serum that provides same-day results

STOP -- Swab Test on Premises: an overnight in-plant laboratory microbiological screen test for detecting antibiotic residues in edible tissues

SWAB -- STOP precursor: an overnight laboratory microbiological screen test for detecting antibiotic residues in edibles tissues

TLC -- Thin layer chromatography

UV -- Ultraviolet spectrophotometric techniques for detection and quantification