SCIENTISTS at Trinity College, Dublin, have devised a method of tracing meat using DNA samples from slaughtered animals. They guarantee that it will enable any joint of meat to be traced back to the farm of origin.
The test, developed at the college during work on cattle genetics, has already been tested by Superquinn supermarkets. Individual cuts were traced back to the individual animal from the AIBP plant in Cahir.
Prof Patrick Cunningham, who is chairman of Traceback, a new company set up to exploit the system, said it can offer the meat company, the retailer and the consumer a full quality assurance scheme.
The test will be able, he said, to identify the kind of animal which was slaughtered, the farm it came from and the system of production, using the DNA code.
This, he said, will eliminate the need for the paper trail involved in conventional tracing.
At slaughter stage, a small sample of meat is taken for analysis, DNA profiled, and stored with its ear tag number.
If a complaint arises, the meat is analysed to establish its DNA code. This, essentially, is the label by which each piece of meat can be traced to its place of origin.
Professor Cunningham said that the system will be offered first to the Irish beef industry. He expects that the system will become what he termed the "gold standard for meat traceability worldwide".
Mr Ciaran Meghen, managing director of IdentiGEN, the joint venture company established by the scientists with Trinity, said a patent for the process has already been filed.
He said he expected demand for the Traceback system from both Ireland and the UK.