We have over time gotten a fair number of queries related to whether our CRDS analyzers can be used to determine whether an animal is corn-fed or grass-fed, and where that animal comes from. Consumers, restaurateurs, and food companies increasingly care a lot about what goes into the mouths of the meat they sell and whether that meat is local or from Brazil or Texas or wherever. Which is why we welcome the opportunity to discuss how stable isotopes can both determine if a cow has been grass-fed or corn-fed and, further, where that meat comes from. We've actually done some research and produced an application note (by our Senior Applications Scientist Nabil Saad) on the stable isotope differences we saw in carbon molecules in grass-fed meat versus other supermarket meats. 

Our Director of Business Development Iain Green got a chance to explain a little bit about what Picarro analyzers can do in this article last week in the Drover's CattleNetwork, one of the leading online publications for the ranching and livestock industries. Here are some excerpts from the article, which we hope you will read in full, as well. 

"Growing numbers of consumers want details about the meat they purchase. If the label says “natural,” “grass-finished” or “humanely raised,” they want documentation to back up those claims. And the fact is, consumers are in charge. If they want specific, documented attributes in their food, and are willing to pay for them, that’s what they should get.

After the Corn-o-phobia article ran on CattleNetwork.com, we received a note from Iain Green, with Picarro Inc., about a real and practical application of “stable isotope analysis” for meat traceability and process verification. Picarro manufactures analytical testing instruments and processes for, among other things, measuring carbon isotopes in air, water and food.

....Radio frequency tagging and barcoding provide a traceability system intended to enable tracking of virtually any food through the production and retail chain, Green says. But the chain of custody has weak points, especially whenever the tag or code is removed from one entity, such as the animal, and a new one added to the next such as the side of beef, and again at the next stage, the retail product.

In contrast, the Picarro technology uses a type of molecular tracking they call “Nature's Barcode.” The process is based on the principle that the carbon-based molecules in water, air and soil are composed of stable isotopes. When plants process carbon dioxide and water through photosynthesis, green explains, they do so with specific signatures of these isotopes dependent on the type of plant and where it was grown. “When animals eat plants, the signature is passed along - so we can differentiate meat from cows that have eaten grass or corn or have been finished on corn.” 

Got more questions about where's the beef or what's in the beef? Contact us at Picarro.