[MinMin]

Food fraud uncovered - via DNA

WORRIED that the sushi you are tucking into is a garden-variety tilapia and not the pricey red snapper? And is the 100 per cent ground beef on the supermarket shelf really pure beef?
Enter a forensics team which does food identification CSI-style, promising an added arsenal to Singapore's food safety push.

Its new system of tracking the genetic make-up of uncooked animal produce being tested here aims to put the brakes on the thriving international food fraud industry.

Developed by Norwegian life sciences company GenoMar SEA, the GenTrack System, which was developed here, does this by analysing and tracking DNA samples from each animal in a method similar to that used by police to trace crime-scene DNA to its owner.

By doing tests on the produce - chilled chicken parts, or minced meat, for example - from farm to factory, the system ensures that the customer is getting what he sees on the label.

Its DNA fingerprinting project, which received $900,000 in funding from the Economic Development Board and was fine-tuned with local research institutes, is being evaluated by Singapore's Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA).

The process is done at each stage of the production line - from the eggs to the farming in ponds or cages to processing and sales - by collecting tiny samples from the animal, for instance, a small part of a fin from a fish.

If a packet of minced beef is later found to contain horse meat, for example, the company can retrace its tests to see if it had been added just after the cow was slaughtered or during packaging.

But the system cannot be used on cooked or processed food, vegetables or to verify if there are poisons or toxins.

The company said it hopes to provide an added layer of safety to processes now which rely on documentation that can be forged.

GenoMar recently completed a year-long trial in Singapore with Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory on 20,000 tilapia that were bred here but sent to China to be fattened up and filleted.

But for the system to work, GenoMar has to convince food producers or suppliers to use it throughout the process. It is now in talks with retail giant Carrefour in Thailand and Malaysia.

Food scandals involving mislabelling and switching of products have been rampant in recent years.

Unethical food producers have diluted expensive brands with cheaper, low-quality lookalikes. This has, in extreme cases, led to food poisoning and even death.

DNA fingerprinting is a new security measure which governments and companies are looking at to fight such food fraud.

In Singapore, the AVA said it has a comprehensive and integrated safety system already in place which includes accrediting source farms and inspection, sampling and analysis of imports.

'Traceability of sources is a key component of AVA's integrated food safety system,' said Dr Paul Chiew, deputy director of Veterinary Public Health.

He added that the 'AVA is currently evaluating the viability of this gene-tracking system'.

http://www.straitstimes.com/Free/Sto...ry_178153.html

[arcsaber]

Imagine beef or mutton added 0.01% of pork? GG liao. for the food security