June 8, 2011

Ireland's Bord Bia launches pork DNA tests

Ireland's Bord Bia has started taking samples of pork and bacon products from retail outlets in order to incorporate the Identigen pig DNA testing programme into its quality-assurance scheme.

As a result, DNA testing, at a cost of EUR50 (US$73.3) per boar used on-farm, has now become a requirement for all pig farmers participating in the Bord Bia quality-assurance programme.

The IFA, which has spear-headed the initiative, says it hopes to have all of the boars belonging to the 270 pig farmers in Ireland sampled by the end of August. Only then will the organisation be able to start identifying pork or bacon that has not been reared on Irish farms.