WELLINGTON, New Zealand—Beef and lamb producers are at the forefront of a global push to try to verify scientifically the provenance of the meat that people buy, as a series of scandals over mislabeled and tainted food eats into consumer confidence.
Farm groups from the highlands of Scotland to the pastures of New Zealand are investing in technology that tries to "fingerprint" meat by looking for chemical traces of the soil, grass, water and air where the animals once roamed.
The move shows how economies dependent on farm income are battling to retain their reputation for high quality—and their premium prices—in an increasingly complex and opaque global food chain.
"If companies can find a way to pounce on any rogue importers that are trying to pass off something that isn't from New Zealand as from New Zealand, then it needs to be done," said Nigel Stirling, who raises sheep and deer on a 1,000-acre farm in Otago on New Zealand's South Island. The ability to tell if other products are being sold as New Zealand meat could protect future profit, he says.
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