Detect Phenylbutazone in Horsemeat Faster

Thermo Fisher Scientific recently mobilized its Food Safety Response Center (FSRC) to develop a method to test for the presence of the veterinary drug phenylbutazone in horsemeat. “Bute”, as it is also known, is a drug that is banned in any horsemeat intended for human consumption. The new Thermo Fisher method uses a simple two-step solid-phase extraction (SPE) cleanup protocol that is significantly faster than the manual liquid-liquid extraction procedures required by other methods.