TY - JOUR AU - Sawyer, Mary M. AU - Smith, Wayne L. AU - Rensen, Gabriel J. AU - Osburn, Bennie I. AU - Cullor, James S. TI - PCR and antibody methods: Research compares two cattle feed tests that detect bovine byproduct contaminants JF - California Agriculture JO - Calif Agr Y1 - 2005/10/01 VL - 59 IS - 4 SP - 212 EP - 226 PB - University of California Agriculture and Nature Resources SN - 0008-0845 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.3733/ca.v059n04p212 L3 - 10.3733/ca.v059n04p212 AB - Preventing the spread of mad cow disease through contaminated cattle feed is a major concern of beef and dairy producers, regulators and consumers around the world. Routine testing of cattle feeds for the presence of banned substances is a critical control point in assuring animal health and food safety. We compared the results of two test procedures (a real-time polymerase chain reaction [PCR] assay and a commercially available ruminant antibody detection kit) on five cattle rations spiked with bovine meat-and-bone meal, or with bovine dried blood. The real-time PCR consistently detected these contaminants at lower levels in each of these diverse cattle rations.