A project underscores food safety, particularly for pork, by means of a traceability system and procedure, which uses information and communications technology (ICT).
The system will allow traceability of animals from the farm throughout the whole chain of the market channels up to the abattoir of supermarkets.
The project, which is funded by PCAARRD, will be implemented by the Animal Dairy and Sciences Cluster of the University of the Philippines Los Baños (ADSC-UPLB) in cooperation with the National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS) and the Bureau of Animal Industry.
To address the issue of food safety, the project also includes product testing for the presence of potentially harmful substance to consumers. This system shall ensure an efficient traceability of pork that is free from chemicals, antibiotics, and harmful microorganisms along the entire supply chain.
To achieve traceability, the project shall employ radio frequency identification (RFID), an extensive computer-based tagging and tracking system.
Similar to that of barcode identification system, RFID is a wireless use of radio frequency electromagnetic fields for transferring data through a miniaturized antenna. Its main purpose is to automatically identify and track tags that are attached to objects.
The RFID is a practical technology known to be superior, in terms of usability, compared to the existing barcode in general as noted in different industries.
The project will also address meat adulteration, another issue in food safety. In other countries, adulteration and faking of meat has been reported to be prevalent. Reports include horsemeat being sold as beef burgers and even rat meat as mutton.
The use of RFID technology in product traceability will greatly accelerate the efficiency of tracing back products in cases of adulteration and contamination.
A component of the traceability system for development is a method that will verify species identity of meat and meat products. The project will accomplish a DNA-based species authentication technology for meat and meat products that can be utilized later on by NMIS for certification purposes.
The DNA-based species authentication technology, as its name suggests, verifies product information based on the meat’s DNA, making the test as accurate as possible. It is also intended to create a “quick test” to authenticate meat products on-site at the same time eliminating the use of expensive equipment for this purpose.
This initiative shall provide the consumers with reliable information; promote transparency; and ensure their safety.