Sturgeon Valley Pork to Employ DNA-based Meat Traceability System
St. Albert, Alberta, Canada, April 15, 2009 – Sturgeon Valley Pork, an Alberta, Canada-based processor of fresh pork, announced it will use a proven, state-of-the-art DNA traceability system that can trace its pork from the grocer’s meat case all the way back to the processing plant and farm of origin.
Sturgeon Valley Pork is a federally inspected processing plant that supplies fresh pork to Western Canada. The company works closely with local pork producers to deliver consistently high-quality pork with a focus on freshness and food safety.
The company is using a meat tracking system called DNA TraceBack®, developed by IdentiGEN, Inc., that has been used in Europe since 2000. Under the system, DNA samples will be taken from Sturgeon Valley hogs at the processing plant and sent to IdentiGEN’s laboratory, where their unique DNA identifiers are used to verify product origin.
Once the program is implemented, pork from Sturgeon Valley will display IdentiGEN’s DNA TraceBack seal at the retail meat case.
“The DNA TraceBack program helps link Sturgeon Valley producers directly with the consumer. Because it is based on sound science, it provides an added assurance that helps us build trust with our customers,” said Dan Majeau, one of the principals at Sturgeon Valley Pork.
Dennis McKerracher, IdentiGEN’s Canadian representative based in Alberta, is working with Sturgeon Valley Pork to implement DNA TraceBack at its plant. “IdentiGEN is the world leader in DNA-based identification and traceability systems for the meat industry,” he said. “DNA TraceBack is the ultimate proof of product integrity.”
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About Sturgeon Valley Pork
Sturgeon Valley Pork, based in St. Albert, Alberta, Canada, is a privately held company owned by pork producers. It operates a federally inspected processing plant that supplies fresh pork to Western Canada. The company works closely with local pork producers to deliver consistently high-quality pork with a focus on freshness and food safety. Sturgeon Valley Pork can be reached at 780-418-7675 or by e-mail at info@sturgeonvalleypork.com
About IdentiGEN
IdentiGEN Ltd., with its North American subsidiary IdentiGEN, Inc., is a privately held, venture-backed company, and a leading provider of DNA-based solutions to the agriculture and food industries. The company was founded as a spinoff from the Institute of Genetics, Trinity College Dublin, where the company’s core area of expertise – genetic identification – was developed and is now being deployed in a variety of ways to enhance consumer confidence in the safety and quality of food products. Through IdentiGEN’s DNA-based TraceBack® system, retailers, meat processors, producers and local governments, for the first time, have the tools to unequivocally trace the identity of meat back to its source. Additional information about IdentiGEN can be found at www.identigen.com and www.dnatraceback.com.