Retailers can use DNA tracing to track meat

By BRIAN CHARLTON Associated Press Writer

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) - Meat retailers can now trace their wares from the ranch to the refrigerator case using DNA analysis.

IdentiGEN Ltd., based in Ireland with U.S. offices in Lawrence, Kan., said its DNA TraceBack technology can boost consumer confidence, as well as the value of the hamburger, steak, pork cuts and other meat.

TraceBack can determine not only where meat came from but whether it's organic or Angus - or whatever the label says, company officials said. Chief Executive Don Marvin said it's the first product to offer DNA tracing for the entire meat supply chain.

"If you see a DNA TraceBack label, believe it," Marvin said. "It's true. It's DNA."

But some in the industry aren't convinced it's worth adding to their many rising costs by adopting the high-tech tool.

The technology - approved by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in October - has been in use in Europe since 2000. British grocer Tesco and Ireland's Superquinn and Dunnes Stores use it, and IdentiGEN officials said two U.S. companies have inked contracts to use it and a third grocer is close to a deal.

Public announcements of the deals are expected in the next few months, Marvin said. Both Tesco and Superquinn launched marketing campaigns in Europe after implementing DNA TraceBack, but the U.S retailers haven't publicly announced their use of the product.

Bovigen LLC, a Louisiana company recently purchased by Pfizer Animal Health, also offers USDA-approved DNA tracing. But Bovigen plans to use it only to help producers identify beef cattle for specific traits for breeding purposes, said spokesman Rick Goulart.

Dave Schafer, executive director of the Kansas Meat Processors Association, said he is skeptical that DNA tracing is necessary in the U.S. or that producers will want to add to already high food prices.

"There is no evidence there is a serious safety problem or even a very minimal problem to justify the cost," Schafer said.

And producers like Brian Beckman of Grinnell Locker Plant in Grinnell, Kan., said they wondered how accurate the technology could be, noting some slaughterhouses process hundreds of animals at once.

But Marvin said IdentiGEN's technology, which can identify the multiple animals whose parts were used in a given sample of ground beef, could have helped reduce amount of meat recalled after undercover videos revealed employees at Westland/Hallmark Meat Co. in Chino, Calif., abusing sick and weakened cows.

The revelations in February led to the recall of 143 million pounds of beef, the largest meat recall in U.S. history.

Workers take DNA samples at the processing and retail links on the supply chain and send them to IdentiGEN, which correlates them and determines the specific animals each product came from. Information kept by farmers or others in the supply chain can be added to give a full history.

IdentiGEN, founded by researchers from Trinity College in Dublin, developed the process, which assesses a panel of genetic markers using what's known as high-throughput DNA analysis. The company simplified the collection process so processors and retailers can easily implement the technology, Marvin said.

Kansas Secretary of Agriculture Adrian Polansky, who is familiar with IdentiGEN through its use in his state, said DNA tracing offers a foolproof way to improve safety and verify claims made by suppliers.

"This is a way to ensure consumers are actually buying products they desire to buy," said Polansky, who predicted that producers will be willing to cover the technology's extra cost.

And Kansas State University's Curtis Kastner, a professor of animal sciences and director of the school's Food Science Institute, said DNA tracing could make U.S. meat more marketable in other countries, as well as offer safety and consumer confidence advantages.

"Here's a pretty powerful tool to help the market here in Kansas and in this region of states to say, 'Here's a product that is not just perceived as safe and secure, it actually is,'" Kastner said.