Meat may carry edible barcode showing its origin to beat fraud

AN “INVISIBLE barcode” which can be sprayed onto joints of meat and scanned by consumers using a smartphone will thwart future food fraud, scientists have said.

The accountancy firm Pricewaterhousecoopers (PWC) is developing an edible signature with an agent used in spices and powdered milk that promises to reveal how the animal was raised, what it ate and where it was processed.

The new electronic etching procedure is due to be launched in Australia and China within the next 12 months.

Once in widespread use, the technology should help regulators and shoppers avoid food fraud such as the horsemeat scandal, which rocked the British meat industry in 2013.

The procedure begins at the abattoir, where meat is sprayed with fine particles of silicon dioxide. This can create a distinctive pattern which is capable of being recognised by a hyper-spectrum gun, which shines a light onto the microparticles and reads back a unique wavelength.

The tagging could be done at every stage of the meat production process, potentially enabling individual steaks or other cuts of meat to be identifiable.

‘There are a lot of people who have profited from selling products that are not what they claim they are’

Initially, however, the micro tag will be embedded into the meat’s primary packaging only. This will be while PWC obtains regulatory approval to use the silicon, which is used as an anti-caking agent in some food stuffs, to be used for tracking and serialisation.

A similar system is already in use in the pharmaceutical industry for tracking drugs. The accountancy firm described the new technology as “step one in a multi-step approach to beat the fraudsters”.

PWC is trialling the system with an Australian beef producer, Vic’s Premium Quality Meat, and is planning to extend it next year. It is also developing the software into an app.

Anthony Puharich, from the meat firm, told Financial Review: “The public will be ecstatic but there are a lot of people who have profited from selling products that are not what they claim they are. This will enable full transparency of the product’s provenance.”

Food fraud is estimated to cost the UK food and drink industry up to £11 billion a year. The horsemeat scandal unfolded from January 2013 when Irish food inspectors revealed they had found the substance in frozen burgers sold as beef.

Following the revelations, some surveys showed that only just over half of consumers felt confident they were buying exactly what was advertised.