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With the UK’s animal welfare standards some of the highest in the world, and the rise of healthy eating trends, customers are more aware than ever about where the meat they buy comes from. As higher-quality products, such as British-labelled food, command a higher price, food fraud is inevitably a big concern. Britain’s pork levy board, tasked with supporting, and funded by, farmers and growers in the UK, is renewing its partnership with a North Yorkshire laboratory, Agroisolab, in the fight against fraud. Using Agroisolab’s expertise in the field of stable isotope technology, AHDB’s contract supports the protection of British standards of pork production and prevention of fraud.
Roger Young, Managing Director of Agroisolab UK, commented: “This is a fantastic continuation of one of our earliest contracts and it is a pleasure to continue our relationship with AHDB.
“Assisting supply chains to protect against fraud is our top priority. Agroisolab is committed to ensuring that labelled British food really is British food.”
Commenting on the awarding of the contract, Angela Christison, Strategy Director for Pork for AHDB, said: “The pig industry works exceptionally hard to meet and exceed exacting standards for consumers. It is essential that there is an ongoing method of ensuring that what is labelled ‘British’ is just that and not meat supplied from a country that may not have had to reach such high standards.
Agroisolab has proven to be a very effective method of spot testing meat for authenticity of origin and we are pleased to continue this relationship for the benefit of our levy payers.”
Stable isotope technology uses science to prove origin or organic claims in products by analysing the isotope ratios present. With this technology, it is possible to use the elements – isotopes – present in the products to pin down the origin.
In addition to meat, Agroisolab are also leading experts at providing isotope analysis of timber, wine, produce, eggs and ivory, and have worked alongside organisations such as WWF and the US forestry service in analysing samples all over the world.
June 18, 2018 - Agroisolab UK
