In the food and agriculture industry, livestock and produce has to be tested for the presence of growth enhancers before being cleared safe for public consumption. Ordinarily, drug residue analysis is a slow, costly process and an elaborate sample extraction and pre-treatment process is necessary before analysis can be done with sophisticated equipment.

In light of this, Renogenic has developed enzyme-linked immunoassay (ELISA) test kits for ß-agonist, chloramphenicol and ractopamine; creating easy to use and rapid screening tests that require minimal sample preparation. These kits contain antibodies that bind to specific antigens to test for the presence of illegal or harmful levels of growth enhancers.

ELISA test kits are ideal for field use as they are highly sensitive and can effectively screen the negative samples and reduce the number of positive suspects that need to be analyzed by the mass spectrometers.

Renogenic has many other products in the pipeline to be launched officially soon.

b-agonists are growth-promoting agents used in meat producing livestock. Clenbuterol and salbutamol are often mentioned in the illegal use of b-agonists as feed additives. Misuse of these can cause drastic side effects, such as cramps, tremors, hypertension, dizziness and nausea. The b-Agonist EIA (enzyme immunoassay) kit is a direct competitive immunoassay for the detection of b-agonists in various matrices. This kit allows 96 analyses to be carried out.

Chloramphenicol is an effective antibiotic used against a wide range of bacteria in farm-raised animals. It is a known carcinogen and causes adverse reactions such as bone marrow depression, aplastic anaemia and other serious blood disorders. The Chloramphenicol ELISA kit is a direct competitive immunoassay for the screening of chloramphenicol in various matrices. This kit allows 96 analyses to be carried out.

Ractopamine is a phenoethanolamine ß-agonist used as a growth promoter in meat producing farm animals. Although not highly toxic, long-term misuse can be potentially harmful as it may cause cardiovascular effects, such as increased heart rate and hypertension.The Ractopamine ELISA kit is a direct competitive immunoassay for the screening of ractopamine in various matrices. This kit allows 96 analyses to be carried out.