The detection of prohibited substances such as growth promoters (e.g. β-agonists),
antibiotics, growth hormones and steroids in food is required as a priority. Developments of
analytical methods, which are simple and highly sensitive, are required for the detection of these
compounds since they are highly diverse and present in trace amounts. The complexity of the
biological matrices even makes the analysis of these residues problematic. Several methods have
been developed for analyses of β-agonist residues in edible products. Rapid screening methods of
these residues include radio immunoassay (RIA) and enzyme immunoassay (EIA). Both techniques
are highly sensitive, but false positive or negative results may be obtained in some cases.
Confirmatory methods including hyphenated techniques of mass spectrometry (MS) with gas (GC) or
liquid chromatography (LC) can enhance the efficiency of the analysis.