This document describes a procedure for the identification of meat and meat products derived from mammalia and poultry to the level of genus or species. The identification of meat species is carried out by PCR amplification of either a segment of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene (cytb) [1] or the cytochrome c oxidase I gene (COI) [2], or both, followed by sequencing of the PCR products and subsequent sequence comparison with entries in databases [3], [4]. The methodology allows the identification of a large number of frequently used as well as exotic meat species in foodstuffs. The decision whether the cytb or COI gene segment or both are used for meat identification depends on the declared meat species, the applicability of the PCR method for the meat species and the availability of comparative sequences in the public databases. This method has been successfully validated on raw meat, however, laboratory experience is available that it can also be applied to processed meat products. This document is usually unsuitable for the analysis of highly processed foods with highly degraded DNA where the fragment lengths are not sufficient for amplification of the targets. Furthermore, it is not applicable for complex meat products containing mixtures of two or more meat species.