Following thecrisis of radiation-infected beef in Japan, claims rose regarding food  safety regulations and what more could have been  done.

The main issue today with meat  traceability procedures is the fact that identifying the meat's origin may take  days. In this situation for instance, this time frame allowed contaminated meat  to be purchased and even consumed.

A research company in Israel  produced a system for genetic cattle identification. The use of this system  provides the final customer all the information on the purchased meat in the  point of sale using cellular technology.

The system uses the genetic barcode  of animals to create a regular optical barcode on the end product. Since the  animal's DNA remains the same during the entire life cycle of the animal and in  the distribution chain (a stake would have the exact same genetic barcode as the  cow that it was produced from), there is no possibility for mistake or fraud in  the system.

Guy Evron, Marketing manager for  AutenticA genetic traceability, sais that if this type of system had been  established in Japan Prior to the event the end consumers would have been able  to identify that the meat origin of the area of the radiation flow and wouldn't  buy it. Furthermore- this type of tool, when provided to customers creates a  deterring tool that will prevent this meat from ever arriving to the  supermarkets, out of the fear of the public  reaction.

In Israel,  Where AutenticA was established 4 years ago a law is about to be passed in the  House of Representatives, which will enforce genetic identification on every cow  in the country. Israel will be one of the first  places in the world where this type of system is established in order to create  a tool to battle future food safety issues, such as  this.

____

AutenticA - Bactochem laboratories  Ltd

www.autentica-dna.com