It's an odd concept: that diners will be willing to pay higher rates for beef served at restaurants if they know the cow's origins--or, more specifically, the cow's DNA. A new seal will tell restaurant visitors if they can be assured the beef they're being served is a vegetarian from the Midwest. Be prepared to pay more.
11,000 U.S. restaurants that serve Braveheart Black Angus Beef will be able to assure diners they're getting only the best, premium Angus beef that's got DNA TraceBack® -- what's being dubbed the nation’s "first-of-its-kind assurance of quality and commitment".
Braveheart Black Angus Beef, a brand exclusively supplied by Performance Food Group (PFG), is now using "DNA TraceBack". It's what the company claims to be a "proprietary DNA-based traceability system...to set a new standard in the U.S. food service industry." What that new standard may be isn't entirely clear yet, but the company says its DNA tracing will "assure restaurant patrons that the beef they’re eating came from corn-fed Angus cattle raised in the American Midwest."
George Holm, President and CEO of PFG, calls the new DNA angle “part of Braveheart’s fearless commitment to quality.”
Who knew DNA was fearless.
The Angus cattle must be humanely raised in the Midwest and fed an all-vegetarian, corn-based diet before slaughter.
Meat with DNA TraceBack will be available or served at more than 11,000 restaurants, food service outlets and grocery stores that offer Braveheart Black Angus Beef. And the restaurants that serve the beef will get to include a fancy "DNA TraceBack" seal on their menus. That's apparently to alert customers that whatever the rate to be charged, that beef is worth it.
The system -- which the company claims is "to inexpensively and quickly verify brand claims for beef and pork" -- has already been extensively used in Europe for more than ten years. It seems Europeans are more concerned about where their meat's coming from than we are here in the States. Or maybe they just have reason to be: geneticists came up with the DNA TraceBack idea, at Trinity College Dublin, to aid ailing Irish grocery store retailers after the Mad Cow disease outbreak that hit Europe in the 90s. It was kind of supposed to help rebuild consumer confidence, in the idea of eating beef.
It's a bit unclear why U.S. diners are supposed to want to pay substantially more for beef used in a method that the company says is an inexpensive way to verify its origin -- but that seems to be the hope.
The best quote from the company's CEO that markets the DNA technology for animals:
“DNA TraceBack uses nature’s own barcode -- the DNA of each animal -- to identify and trace each cut of meat from animal to fork,” says CEO of IdentiGEN (North America) Ronan Loftus. “There is a lot of marketing noise out there. DNA technology cuts through that noise, and provides the ultimate proof of product integrity. Kudos to PFG for raising the bar.”
From "animal to fork", the nation can now rest easy -- and pay more.