A new approach rapidly tests for the presence of antibiotics in poultry and other meat products, enhancing food transparency and authenticating brand label claims.
“Until now, you could claim you didn’t know what is in the poultry you produce. Because it was too hard to know. Testing solutions for ‘antibiotic-free’ and ‘hormone-free’ labels were just not practical for the modern poultry industry. As a result, those claims were not backed by science and data,” Scott Levitan, Marketing of FoodID, said.
“People are demanding greater transparency and a stronger connection with their food. People want to know what’s in the food they eat. Verification, through testing, can help build trust in label claims,” said Levitan
In recent years, a growing number of poultry producers have pledged to go antibiotic-free in response to consumer concerns about the rise in antibiotic-resistant bacteria. A growing number of Salmonella and Campylobacter strains have become multi-drug resistant, according to a March 2020 report from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) requires that all poultry raised for food be hormone-free.
How it works
The platform tests for the seven drug families that represents 95% of the most used poultry and livestock antibiotics and other adulterants that can be administered via food and water. It has been tested in the real world setting at a variety of beef, pork and poultry plants.
“The test kit uses lateral flow which is the same technology used by pregnancy tests. This allows it to work at the speed and scale of the supply chain. It delivers results in near real time – at plant line speeds. It has sufficient sensitivity to detect even low levels of substance,” Levitan said.
Consumers value transparency
Transparency has become an important issue in agriculture. Consumers are increasingly interested in learning more about how their food is produced and put a lot of value on package or food label claims.
“We have started rolling out a FoodID label – in partnership with select producers – to provide transparency around our testing program and results. The label is an assurance that the chicken being purchased in the supermarket or the burger being eaten in the fast serve restaurant has been tested. That the claim is not just a ‘promise’ – but is backed by real testing,” Levitan explained.
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