Persistent pink in beef patties and hamburgers is a problem in the meat industry that has been known for a few decades. It is a costly problem as it can give rejections of food by consumers. Studies around the world have tried to solve the problem but it still remains a mystery. There are many different theories of what is causing the red colour. Some of the most likly theories are reducing hemocromes, high microbiological loads, contamination of nitrite or organic/non organic substanses, DFD meat etc.

Nitrittillsatser i charkuterivaror har under la?ng tid anva?nts fo?r sina fa?rggivande, sensoriska, antibakteriella och konserverande egenskaper. Dess fa?rggivande egenskaper beror pa? re- aktioner med muskelproteinet Myoglobin, vilket leder till bildande av rosa nitrosyl- Myoglobin. Dess smakgivande egenskaper beror dels pa? antioxidativa egenskaper, men a?ven andra reaktioner a?r inblandade.

Hemoplus® (Sarstedt, Nümbrecht, Tyskland) is a guaiac-based fecal occult blood test developed for human medicine. Guaiac-based tests make use of the pseudoperoxidase activity of hemoglobin so the test is not specific for human hemoglobin and can therefore be used in veterinary medicine. Peroxidase-containing foods such as meat (hemoglobin and Myoglobin) can cause false-positive results of the test. To ensure that a positive result is not caused by diet, it has been suggested that canine patients should be fed a meatless diet for a few days prior to fecal occult blood testing. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of commercial dog food on guaiac-based tests. In this study fecal samples from healthy dogs were analyzed with Hemoplus®.