Australia's reputation for high quality beef and lamb makes it a big target for counterfeit and substitution in global markets and it seems con artists are only ever a breath away from the latest traceability packaging technology.
Now scientists have come up with a way of looking for an innate 'origin fingerprint' in the physical product by unlocking the natural code it absorbs from the environment in which it is produced.
It means Australian red meat can be tested at any point in global supply chains to verify its origins - not just back to Australia, or Queensland, but to Uncle Bob's farm.
Meat & Livestock Australia has partnered with international science and data company Oritain to build the capacity of its groundbreaking technology in the Australian red meat industry.
Australian beef's reputation is built on the back of rigorous farming standards, a clean and green environment and first-class production practices and as it moves more and more towards targeting high-end markets, being able to prove authenticity and having bullet-proof traceability, will be critical, beef industry leaders say.
How it works
Dr Sam Lind, regional head of customer engagement at Oritain, explained the technology effectively takes aspects of forensic science and applies it to the food supply chain.
Geographical differences in the chemistry of the environment are able to point to the origin of meat.
Animals and plants absorb natural chemical properties from the environment in which they are raised, in particular from soil and water, which vary according to location.
"Some soils are high in certain nutrients, some areas are warm, some dry - all these attributes of the environment are taken up by plants and animals," Dr Lind said.
These properties are then either maintained or transferred into other products further up the supply chain and therefore link the product back to the environment it was produced in.
"We refer to these properties in the final product as the origin fingerprint," Dr Lind said.
Oritain had been building up large sample libraries of geographical areas across the world. The company sends people out mystery shopping in high-risk supply chains to anonymously procure product, then runs it through the system to answer the question of whether it is where it claims to be from.
"That means we can provide our customers with information on the integrity of the supply chain they can then act on," Dr Lind said.
Oritain Australia's Sandon Adams said by testing the actual product itself, rather than relying on packaging, bar codes and paper trails, supply chain participants could be sure what they are purchasing is what they believe it to be.
The work with MLA, which has involved collecting several thousand sample cuts from processors around the country, was about building the sample library here to protect the quality overseas consumers were looking for in Australian product.
While the cost of food fraud to red meat globally is estimated to be as much as $30billion, Oritain says this technology is largely about providing objective data that can hone in on just how big the problem really is specifically to Australian product, and where the biggest issues are.
ALSO IN BEEF:
Shan Goodwin
Shan Goodwin steers ACM’s national coverage of the beef industry. Shan has worked as a journalist for 30 years, the majority of that with agricultural publications. She spent many years as The Land’s North Coast reporter and has visited beef properties and stations throughout the country and overseas. She treats all breeds equally. Contact 0427686187. E: s.goodwin@austcommunitymedia.com.au
Shan Goodwin steers ACM’s national coverage of the beef industry. Shan has worked as a journalist for 30 years, the majority of that with agricultural publications. She spent many years as The Land’s North Coast reporter and has visited beef properties and stations throughout the country and overseas. She treats all breeds equally. Contact 0427686187. E: s.goodwin@austcommunitymedia.com.au
