Kiwi tech helps ID real deal eggs and honey
Scientific “fingerprinting” developed in NZ is rooting out fraudulent goods worldwide.
ADunedin company’s ‘‘fingerprinting’’ of freerange eggs and other premium products is helping deter food fraud.
Oritain recently began authentication testing for large Australian free-range egg producer Farm Pride, and has just been engaged by Foodstuffs to provide traceability for its Pams free-range eggs.
The testing measures trace elements that occur naturally at each farm and are absorbed by the hens living there. Analysis creates a unique fingerprint that is then used to verify the origin of the eggs.
Oritain chief executive Grant Cochrane said the technique, which originated from the forensic science around fingerprinting, was pioneered by Otago University chemistry professor and company founder Russell Frew.
The test is being used for Manuka honey, infant formula, milk powder, meat, wool and pharmaceuticals.
Oritain has an office in London and will shortly open one across the Tasman to help service clients in the UK, North America, China, and Australia.
Cochrane said food fraud was a major global problem and brands were aware of the importance of being able to prove the provenance of their goods.
‘‘When we’re auditing products overseas, most weeks we’re finding cases of fraud.
‘‘Where there’s a premium product, there’s always a temptation that people will adulterate it, either passing off a counterfeit or diluting it with an inferior product for economic gain. By detecting it we increase the chance that criminals are caught, so we act as a deterrent’’.
Foodstuffs made the decision to begin egg testing before the recent
case where Countdown supermarkets pulled free-range eggs from its shelves after a report some of the supposedly free-range eggs were likely to have been laid by caged hens.
Foodstuffs managing director Steve Anderson said Oritain’s advantage was that it tested the actual product, rather than relying on packaging and paperwork to provide reassurance there had not been any substitution in the supply chain.
‘‘It’s really difficult to know when that happens because an egg looks like an egg.
‘‘With this technology, if we did a random audit we’d very quickly know if there’s been a substitution of eggs, and that’s a significant disincentive for anyone to do that’’.
Foodstuffs already used the fingerprinting technique to check the origin of jasmine rice, free range pork and olive oil.
There had not been any suspect results so far, but Anderson said the company now had a clear protocol to work through if they occurred.
Lewis Road Creamery founder Peter Cullinane also uses Oritain’s certification system and said it would be a vital part of his company’s move into China this year.
When Lewis Road’s chocolate milk first went on sale here there were instances of people recycling the bottles to make ‘‘rip off’’ versions of the popular product.
‘‘That’s when we realised we had a problem’’, said Cullinane.
‘‘Now, every bottle we produce we can prove its origin which is very important to us because our reputation is everything’’.
Cochrane said the UK scandal where horse meat was found in hamburger patties, highlighted the health risks of food fraud because tranquillisers used on racehorses
‘With this technology, if we did a random audit we’d very quickly know if there’s been a substitution of eggs.’ Foodstuffs managing director Steve Anderson
were carcinogenic to humans.
Clients’ responses to the discovery of counterfeit food varied. Some changed suppliers, or took a ‘‘cease and desist’’ approach.
‘‘They say ‘we know what’s happening, please don’t do it’. Other times they feel their brand is exposed, so they will direct product into another market where there’s less risk’’, Cochrane said.
If consumers were paying higher prices for free range, organic of GE-free goods, then they expected tp receive the genuine article.
‘‘The underlying principle is that if you don’t know where the product has come from, you can’t be sure of the quality’’.