As the world’s population continues to grow, livestock production is expanding to meet the increasing demand for meat and meat products, which provide high-quality protein, essential amino acids, vitamins, and other nutrients important for human health. 

Ensuring the safety of meat products has become a major priority for public health organisations and food testing laboratories worldwide. Consumers may be exposed to harmful substances through contaminated meat, particularly pesticide residues that originate from contaminated animal feed and water. These chemical residues pose a potential risk to human health and remain an important concern for food safety authorities. 

Farmers use a wide range of pesticides to protect crops against agricultural pests. The principal concern is that many of these chemicals are environmentally persistent, allowing them to accumulate in the tissues and organs of animals. Although polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) have been banned in many countries, their residues continue to contaminate meat products because of their persistence and fat-soluble nature. Scientific evidence indicates that prolonged exposure to low concentrations of pesticide residues may impair immune function and contribute to endocrine disorders, as well as reproductive and neurobehavioural abnormalities. 

Against this background, a team of Omani researchers compared three analytical methods for detecting pesticide residues in 145 samples of beef, lamb, goat, chicken, and turkey. The analysis included both fresh (frozen) meat and processed meat products, including burgers, mortadella, and sausages. To ensure greater accuracy and broader representation, the researchers examined products from a range of local, regional, and international brands available in the Omani market. 

The findings showed that the meat samples contained only trace amounts of different pesticide residues, all of which were below the maximum permissible limits. The mean concentrations detected in red meat samples ranged from non-detectable levels to 9.81 nanograms per gram of wet weight. 

Nevertheless, even trace levels of pesticide residues may have implications for human health. The study therefore recommends that the relevant government authorities use these findings to support routine monitoring and testing programmes to ensure the continued safety of meat products available in the local market.