Institute for Foods of Animal Origin

The safety and quality of meat, eggs, milk, fish and other aquatic food as well as the products deriving from them are the focus of the Institute for Foods of Animal Origin. The research covers the entire food chain from harvest or production to consumption. At the level of the primary products, the emphasis is on chemical and hygiene aspects. So that foods of animal origin can be produced, processed and investigated under real-life conditions, researchers employ various techniques and conduct experiments at pilot plants. Modern analytical methods such as proteomics, metabolomics and advanced imaging techniques are used to study substance changes during processing, to characterise the effects of ingredients and additives and to assess the impact of various processing steps on quality, functionality and product characteristics. Environmental and processing contaminants, such as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), plant and fungal toxins as well as their transfer from animal feed into animal-based foodstuffs are another focus area of research. In addition, the type and content of nutrients like proteins, fats, minerals and vitamins as well as the changes they incur during processing are analysed. The Institute for Foods of Animal Origin also conducts a number of statutory and official activities, for example, in the German National Reference Laboratories for extraneous water (water content in poultry meat) and for Anisakis (detection of certain roundworms in fish), for the Coordinating Office for Environmental Radioactivity Monitoring as well as tasks in accordance with various dairy, fat and margarine laws. The institute supports official control of food grading, is involved in the licensing of procedures and devices to classify carcasses and contributes to developing product standards and market regulation. With its research farm at Schädtbek, it is also a building block in an overarching virtual model site for resilient agriculture in the departmental research area.