DNA meat tests for supermarket

Marks & Spencer hopes to implement the tests soon

By consumer affairs correspondent Nicola Carslaw

The foot-and-mouth outbreak has focused attention on the role supermarkets play in food production.

The prime minister has even suggested the big stores have farmers in an armlock.

And supermarkets have been more generally criticised for compromising safety in their quest to provide mass-market, cheap food.

Now high street food retailer Marks & Spencer, says it has found a way to use the DNA in products such as meat to reassure customers they are buying the best.

Genetic fingerprint

Currently, the meat we buy in big supermarkets can be traced back to a particular farm.

But M&S says that soon, meat will be traceable through its genetic fingerprint to the precise animal it came from.

Consumer confidence in meat has suffered

The retailer has signed a deal with healthcare company Whatman Biotechnologies which has taken the techniques used in forensic science and applied them to food production.

Once the tagged and coded animal is slaughtered, its carcass is swabbed and its DNA isolated and stored on specially treated paper.

It means the retailer can gain easy access to the genetic information if there were, for instance, a resulting food poisoning outbreak needing investigation.

The system, which is still in the final stages of development, will be applied first to beef, but could potentially be used on all sorts of foods.

Positive reaction

Initial reaction from farmers and consumer groups has been positive.

In the current climate, they say, any measure that guarantees certainty about the origin and safety of food is a major step forward.

A steak could be traced back to the original animal

So for beef and other meat products, the potential is huge - for any future detection and prevention of food poisoning outbreaks.

David Gregory, head of Food Technology at M&S, said: "The potential of this simple DNA technology means we can significantly enhance the integrity of our products to standards previously dreamt of."

It is likely that once the DNA testing system is widely available, other big supermarkets will use it too.