Abstract

New Zealand is reliant upon maintaining export markets for the sale of a significant proportion of its meat and dairy production. Any loss of key overseas markets has significant implications for the national economy. Therefore, we are obliged to meet or stay ahead of market drivers. Increasingly, one of those drivers is product traceability for reasons of consumer confidence. While traceability systems have a relatively short history, they have traditionally been paper and/or electronic based. They are generally managed by parties with a vested interest, and their integrity is difficult to monitor. Animal products have a unique identifier, DNA, that is tamper proof. There are a number of DNA-based traceability systems around the world that are being used in the meat industry. As well as direct tracing of a meat sample back to the animal, and ultimately to the property the animal was raised on, DNA technologies are also being used on-farm for testing meat quality traits and determining the animal’s pedigree. This paper describes some of the traceability options that are in use within the environment in which New Zealand is competing for trade. KEYWORDS: traceability; meat; DNA.

GH, Shackell

Proceedings of the New Zealand Society of Animal Production, Volume 65, Christchurch, 97-101, 2005