This company is "fingerprinting" beef, so you won't eat horse by accident

ByAnna Hartley, 11/29/2017

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The food tractability company uses isotopes to identify food from all over the world.

Remember the European horse meat scandal of 2013? A poorly regulated supply chain led to dozens of different companies serving up horse meat in lieu of beef, and the food regulation industry took a serious blow.

If you don't trust the label, how can you really know where your food comes from?

Enter New Zealand company Oritan. The small company is making big waves, offering a "Scientific Traceability" service that determines exactly what is inside food products, regardless of what the labels say.

The service is especially interesting for farmers and producers who sell products that are legally protected like Champagne, Parma Ham, Cheddar and cognac - or closer to home -Vidalia onion and Tennessee whiskey.

By using scientific techniques that originated in the criminal forensic field, Oritan are able to measure the isotope ratios and trace elements in the food, and literally determine where on Earth a product comes from.

Once identified, the "fingerprint" is entered into the database, and can be used to detect fraud in other food stuffs, an service that is growing in demand.

Recently, the company was asked by Beef Farmers of Ontario (BFO) and the Ontario Independent Meat Processors (OIMP) to determine the fingerprint of Ontario beef, in order to increase consumer trust in local beef farming.

A recent study conducted in Canada found that 1 in 5 sausages collected from stores around Canada were not made from the single ingredient stated on the label. Beef sausages contained turkey, some turkey sausages were all chicken, and certain pork sausages contained beef, with one even containing horse meat.

The Future of Food?

While fingerprinting meat and measuring nitrogen isotopes might sound like the stuff of science fiction, we suspect that it won't be long until you'll know exactly where your food comes from, but even the name of the farmer who raised it.

P.S. This is how to remove trace pesticides from your the surface of your food.

Chef Tips and Tricks

VIDEO: Delicious Stuffed Cabbages

These tasty stuffed cabbage rolls are so easy!

Ingredients

1 onion
5 - 6 thick rashers bacon
1/2 lb sausage meat
1/2 cup tomato paste
2 cloves garlic, diced
2 bell peppers, diced
Salt
1 cabbage head

Method

Fry the bacon in a skillet, then add onion, and meat.
Add tomato paste, bell peppers, garlic and salt, and simmer till cooked through
Boil 1 whole cabbage head in salted water till tender
Spoon mixture into individual cabbage leaves, and fold carefully to form little rolls
Serve with any remaining mixture
Enjoy!