Industry interest group Quailty Meat Scotland (QMS) has announced that forensic technology is being used in the country to combat ‘food fraud.’ QMS said Scottish meat is an attractive target for unscrupulous traders looking to pass off sub-standard imports as higher quality meat; the commercial use of new forensic technology is therefore being rolled out in Scotland where beef samples can now be tested to authenticate the country of origin. image expired

Andy McGowan, Head of Industry Development at QMS commented: “The forensic tests were developed to identify the “unique fingerprint” of where meat is produced and can confirm to Scotch Beef consumers that the meat of their choice is genuine. The technology also protects and supports the Scotch Beef producers behind the brand.”

The test has emerged from several research projects which have contributed to an effective system of testing that produces a high degree of accuracy when used on meat with no other distinguishing features. Mr McGowan explained, “The isotope technology is already used for verifying the origin of mineral waters and is essentially a laboratory analysis of trace element information extracted from samples enabling the authenticity of the meat to be tested.”

Each sample is tested for levels of hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, sulphur, oxygen, and strontium isotopes, which gives an accurate result based on the presence of these isotopes in the natural environment. When the results are layered on top of each other, the outcome is a unique “fingerprint” of the place where the animal spent the last few months of its life.

Mr McGowan said that trial results had given a very high level of accuracy in blind testing and that interestingly, when tested on pork, results were unaffected by the brine used in curing bacon or by cooking. Further research is being carried out to ensure that test results are not affected by sauces or cross-contamination where meats of multiple origins have been cooked on the same surface.