[Pathological analysis, an original way to study foodstuffs]

To study the composition of foodstuffs (sausage, merguez, chipolata) on microscopic examination.

Six sausages, merguez, and chipolatas, sold in supermarkets were studied. The samples were weighed before and after dehydration to assess the water composition. Foodstuffs specimens were formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded and analyzed on microscopic examination. Proportions of different tissues were assessed by morphometric analysis.

Specimens contained a high proportion of water (40 to 55%). Striated muscular fibers represented from 0.7 to 15.3% for the sausages and the merguez, and from 61 to 76.5% for the chipolatas. Sausages and merguez contained from 43.3 to 49.2% of adipose tissue. All the specimens had fibrous tissue and most of them had small fragments of bone and cartilaginous tissue. Fragments of salivar glands were found in the sausages and fragments of lymphoid tissue were found in merguez. There were neither parasite nor brain tissue. Manufacturer wrote on the label the presence of "meat" with no information about the nature and the proportion of tissues in the foodstuffs specimens. Prices of the foodstuffs were globally correlated to the quantity of muscular fibers in the specimens.

Pathological studies are not performed in France for the control of foodstuffs. Microscopic analysis could be interesting, as well as biochemical and bacteriological studies, in order to identify the nature and the proportion of tissues involved in the composition of the foodstuffs, to search tissues with potential risk of pathogenic agents transmission, and to search for some parasites.