A door at a meat processing plant was left open while a pesticide was being sprayed. The processor came to EAG to determine if their product had been contaminated. EAG was contacted on a Sunday afternoon and results were needed by 8am Monday morning because 2,000 butchers were ready to work but would be put into a holding pattern.

We obtained a sample of the actual pesticide used, which was a mixture of 3 main components. First, samples of the meat from different locations were pooled to allow for faster sampling. While the samples were being shipped to our laboratory, EAG scientists quickly performed method development experiments to ensure that low limits of detection could be achieved. Once the samples arrived, the meat was extracted using methylene chloride. Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry (GC/MS) was then used to screen the methylene chloride extracts, looking for these 3 components. When none of the analytes were observed in the meat extracts, a portion of the meat was intentionally spiked with the pesticide at levels below the allowable limits (ppb levels) to confirm the effectiveness of the test method. All 3 analytes were observed in the spiked sample at the appropriate levels.

Out of the 36 samples analyzed, all were found to be free of the pesticide components below detection limits. After a conference call with local meat inspectors as well as the USDA in Washington DC, the testing protocol was accepted and the meat was released. The processor was able to resume operations on Monday morning.