Combination of multi-element and stable isotope analysis improved the traceability of chicken from four provinces of China

The establishment of appropriate analytical methods to authenticate the geographic origin of poultry meat independent of paper record becomes especially important nowadays. In this study, data were analyzed in terms of both the contents of two stable isotopes (C and N) and 12 mineral elements of chicken samples from four provinces to trace their geographical origin. The results showed that classification of chicken was improved by combining both types of data, as compared to that using the mineral element data alone. The present study demonstrates that it is possible to indicate the poultry origin by applying stable isotope and multi-element analysis, which is an effective tool to trace the geographic origin of poultry.