Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Plans to use DNA to verify authenticity of Scotch Beef move closer

The plans were announced by QMS.
The plans were announced by QMS.

Food Standards Scotland (FSS) yesterday welcomed the introduction of “any process” which would improve the traceability of food and ensure it was what it claimed to be.

The watchdog was responding to the news that the Scottish livestock industry has backed a study into the feasibility of introducing DNA traceability which would help guarantee the authenticity of Scotch Beef.

The move follows the revelation by FSS food crime officers in 2016 that they had received several reports of cheaper and inferior foreign beef entering the country and being illegally rebranded as Scotch Beef.

The organisation’s chief executive, Geoff Ogle, confirmed last month that enquiries into these reports are continuing.

Steps are already in place to help prevent fraud, but according to Quality Meat Scotland (QMS) chairman, Jim McLaren, the industry needs to be able to robustly defend the integrity of the Scotch beef brand from any unscrupulous activity.

“Consumer trust is a key aspect of our Scotch beef brand and protecting the brand is vitally important,” said Mr McLaren.

“We need to ensure its premium market position is protected and it is possible that DNA testing may offer the potential to take the existing quality assurance and brands integrity measures in place to a new level.”

The feasibility study, which is currently out to tender, will consider the potential benefits that the introduction of a beef DNA traceability system could have on the Scotch Beef brand and how a DNA traceability system could be implemented, including when and where the samples would be taken.

The development was welcomed by the farmers’ union whose livestock policy manager, John Armour, called for a clear account of the potential costs and benefits of such a system to the Scottish red meat industry.

He said: “NFU Scotland’s livestock committee originally heard last year from QMS that proposals would be developed on the viability of DNA sampling to guarantee the authenticity of Scotch beef and were keen at the time for there to be a thorough study prior to any introduction.

“As a union we continue to work with QMS to raise the profile of the Scotch beef and Scotch lamb brands and it is vital that as an industry we look to explore any proposals which can bolster the authenticity which underpins these brands.”