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Posted on 01/08/2004 10:31:28 AM PST by neverdem
Technology will make labeling battles moot.
Labeling is back in the news because of one mad cow. Actually, the Canadian Holstein seems to have been pretty well labeled. Investigators were able to use her paper trail to trace her north of the border and then confirm it by testing her DNA. Instead of slaughtering 450 calves in order to kill the mad one's progeny, they could have DNA testing to fin the calf—probably still too expensive.
In any case, Washington state's single mad cow is now propelling the usual gaggle of "consumer advocates" to push Congress to adopt new labeling requirements on our food. Two years from now the U.S. will require that labels identifying country of origin be placed on imported meats. The idea is that consumers want to have this information. Actually, some domestic meat producers conceived of labeling as a kind of non-tariff barrier, thinking that consumers might prefer to buy American instead of Argentine or Australian beef. Besides, didn't we once have labels in textiles and clothing that read "Made in the USA?" You can see how that stopped Americans from buying the cheaper clothes made in Mexico, China and Brazil.
Labeling is a major international trade issue right now. For example, under the Trade-Related Aspects of International Property Rights Agreement (TRIPS Agreement), Europeans are trying to expand the use of labels as "geographical indications" (GIS). GIS are supposed to be "indications which identify a good as originating in the territory of a Member, or a region or locality in that territory, where a given quality, reputation or other characteristic of the good is essentially attributable to its geographic origin."
For example, if the Europeans get their way, California wine makers would not be allowed to call their wines burgundy or champagne or Wisconsin cheese makers couldn't label their cheeses feta or parmesan. Only wines from the Burgundy and Champagne regions of France could be so designated; California wines would have to be labeled red and sparkling wine. Similarly only cheese from Greece and Parma in Italy could carry the feta and parmesan labels. US trade negotiators are resisting this ploy and point out that such terms in this country have long been used as generic terms to identify a type of product rather than its place of origin. The Europeans are pushing GIS as a way to create nontariff trade barriers that they hope will garner their products premium prices.
Of course, the labeling and traceability of foods made from genetically enhanced crops is a huge issue in international trade right now. And let's not forget the proliferation of organic product labels, eco-labels, fair trade labels, and more. Already activists of various sorts are agitating to make these labels mandatory.
Thinking of a consumer's right to know, one might think, why not just go ahead and label things. But labels involve more than just of the cost of printing them. Chiefly, the cost is in segregating and tracking goods, especially commodity goods like grain or fiber, through production and distribution systems that can stretch from Timbuktu to Tacoma.
However, if the consumers who want them are voluntarily willing to pay the extra costs incurred in maintaining the bureaucratic, testing and paper trails necessary to insure that what the labels say is true, let them. On the other hand, mandatory labels will raise prices for us all and make us pay to support causes in which we have no interest.
By the end of this decade most of the sturm und drang over labels will simply dissolve. Why? RFID and DNA. Cheap near-microscopic radio frequency identification (RFID) tags will be attached to nearly all products by 2010 making them easy to identify and track. The RFIDs can encode all kinds of information like date of manufacture, origin, ingredients, nutritional information, distribution channels and so forth. And RFID labeling will not be mandated; companies and consumers will adopt it voluntarily because of the advantages it offers them. Retailers are already gearing up to use them despite the concerns of some privacy advocates.
As the Washington State mad cow incident shows, DNA is the ultimate label; living things can't do without it (though the proliferation of clones might someday confuse things a bit). While RFIDs will track manufactured products, cheaper DNA identification testing will make it possible to identify and track biological goods.
RFIDs won't end the fight over geographical indications since that is essentially a trademark and advertising battle. But they will resolve many other controversies. In the future everything will be labeled and the battles then will be over what should not be labeled.
Ronald Bailey is Reason's science correspondent.
Hehe - that is a good one.
| USDA Approves eMerge's Animal Tracking System, CattleLog, As A Process Verified Program (PVP) |
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* CattleLog Is The First Animal Tracking Solution To Receive USDA's PVP Certification * CattleLog Can Assist In Containing Animal Health Emergencies And Individually Tracking The Nation's Cattle Supply SEBASTIAN, Fla., Jan. 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- eMerge Interactive, Inc. (Nasdaq: EMRG), a technology company providing VerifEYE(TM) food safety systems, individual-animal tracking and database management services, today announced its CattleLog(TM) system has been designated as a Process Verified Program (PVP) by the United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service. eMerge's CattleLog system provides individual animal data-collection and reporting tools to cattle producers, meat packers and retailers and is capable of tracking the nation's cattle supply, which may prove helpful in providing source and custody information for animal health emergencies, including foot- and-mouth disease and BSE. Almost 800 current customers are already using CattleLog to track cattle, monitor their supply chains, and assure their customers that their cattle meet specific criteria. The PVP designation is designed to provide livestock and meat producers an opportunity to assure customers of their ability to provide consistent, quality products by having their written manufacturing processes confirmed through independent, third-party audits. The USDA Process Verified Program uses the International Organization for Standardization's ISO 9000 series standards for documented quality management systems as a format for evaluating documentation. To qualify, companies must submit documented quality management systems and successfully pass extensive onsite audits. "We are very pleased to receive the PVP designation from the USDA for our CattleLog animal tracking and database management system," stated David C. Warren, eMerge's President and Chief Executive Officer. "We have developed what we believe is the best data collection and animal tracking solution serving the U.S. beef industry. By gaining USDA approval, which involved a comprehensive approval process that began in June 2003, eMerge becomes the first USDA-approved provider of individual animal identification and life history tracking services. The PVP designation provides independent verification that our policies and procedures are designed to ensure the integrity and security of the data collected with our systems. CattleLog is designed to be a key tool that allows our customers, from small operators to commercial feedlots, to track and identify animals through the supply chain at a time of growing need. "As evidenced by the recent discovery of BSE in the U.S., cattle identification and tracking are priority issues to the U.S. beef industry," continued Mr. Warren. "With this government-verified system, eMerge's customers are able to manage and gain visibility into their cattle supply chain with confidence, knowing that the eMerge system has received this quality designation. In addition, we are confident that eMerge's CattleLog system will accommodate USDA's national animal identification requirements as they are finalized." About eMerge Interactive eMerge Interactive, Inc. is a technology company providing VerifEYE(TM) food safety systems, individual-animal tracking and database management services to the beef-production industry. The Company's individual animal- tracking technologies include CattleLog(TM), an exclusive USDA Process Verified Program providing data-collection and reporting that enables beef- verification and branding. The Company's food-safety technologies include VerifEYE(TM), a meat-inspection system that was developed and patented by scientists at Iowa State University and the Agricultural Research Service of the USDA for which eMerge Interactive holds exclusive rights to its national and international commercialization. About USDA Process Verified Program For more information regarding the USDA's Process Verified Program go to http://processverified.usda.gov. This release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements containing words such as "anticipates," "believes," "expects," "intends," "may," "will" and words of similar meaning. These statements involve various risks and uncertainties. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in these forward-looking statements, including the acceptance by our customers of electronic commerce as a means of conducting business, our ability to grow revenue and margins, our ability to implement our acquisition and expansion strategy, the impact of competition on pricing, the impact of litigation, general economic conditions and other factors discussed in this release and as set forth from time to time in our other public filings and public statements. Readers of this release are cautioned to consider these risks and uncertainties and to not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. For additional information regarding this press release contact:
Investment and financial media:
Juris Pagrabs, Chief Financial Officer
eMerge Interactive
772-581-9741
Darren E Barker, Vice President
Investor Relations International
818-382-9706
Beef Industry:
Tim Niedecken, Director, Information Products
eMerge Interactive
817-732-6536
SOURCE eMerge Interactive, Inc. |
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One of the best steaks I ever ate was in Brazil.
Probably. I buy my meat at Bel Air.
If so, the killing might have been reducible by an inexpensive blood typing.
I can't help you, but tracing lineage in humans by blood groups is just good for ruling out parents, not definitely establishing parenthood, IIRC. It sounds like it has the potential to reduce costs by eliminating unnecessary DNA testing or slaughter. I wonder if they bother any more with blood group typing in the age of DNA testing with regard to forensic pathology. Ask farmfriend if he knows any vets.
I believe they use it as a first, quick step to see if it's worth DNA testing (i.e., if there's a type match).
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