Fake steaks get chop in Scotch beef DNA tests
IT’S a forensic technique that has helped solve countless vile crimes and grisly murders.
Now DNA testing is set to be used to tackle an altogether different problem: fake steak and bogus beef.
By taking samples from cattle across Scotland, experts could soon establish a DNA database of the country’s livestock.
Inspectors would then be able to test meat from butchers, supermarkets and even restaurants to prove by comparing DNA if products being marketed as Scotch beef are genuine.
Government-funded body Quality Meat Scotland (QMS) has taken the
‘Protecting Scotch beef is vitally important’
first steps towards DNA testing by advertising for scientists to carry out a year-long study into the ‘potential introduction of a DNA traceability system for Scotch beef’.
Scotch beef such as Aberdeen Angus can attract premium prices of around 6 per cent higher than meat from other countries and, in the past, cheaper foreign beef has been illegally repackaged and sold as Scottish.
It is estimated that farmers north of the Border lose out on millions of pounds in trade as a result of foreign meat being labelled as Scotch beef.
The DNA traceability system would see a DNA sample being taken from each animal after slaughter and stored on a central database. DNA samples taken from food products such as raw steak or joints of meat could be entered into the system and matched with a specific animal to prove their provenance.
Such samples could even be taken from cooked meat products.
The Scottish red meat industry contributes more than £2 billion to the economy, and Scotch beef was one of the first meat brands to benefit from the coveted European Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) status, which promotes and protects the names of quality agricultural products.
Jim McLaren, chairman of QMS, said: ‘Our cattle farmers in Scotland work hard to deliver a quality product and it is vital that product is not undermined.
‘The Scottish red meat industry must robustly defend the integrity of the brand from unscrupulous activity. Protecting the authenticity of the Scotch beef PGI brand is vitally important.
‘We need to ensure its premium market position is protected and DNA testing may offer the potential to take existing quality assurance and brand integrity measures to a new level.’