Follow that meat

Want to know where your food comes from? A Virginia-based, food distribution company is selling DNA-traceable beef to restaurants, so that customers, for a little extra, can trace their filet mignon back to the farm.

"People want to know where their food is coming from and this gives you a perfect avenue for you to go ahead and find out," said Tracy Tonning, executive chef at Blackstone restaurant in Iowa. "You can trace it back to where it came from, where it was raised. It's a security factor for the guest, as well as the chef."

Along with satisfying consumer curiosity, tracing cuts of beef back to the farm can increase the value of a meal and save time when recalling meat. The technology has been available for over a decade in Europe, but only recently has it been catching on in America. Countries like the United Kingdom have relied on similar technology for food safety concerns such as mad cow disease. Now, over 11,000 restaurants in the U.S. order DNA-traceable beef from the Performance Food Group.

The Richmond- based company is the first beef distributor to use the technology, boasting annual revenues of approximately $11 billion. The Performance Food Group supplies beef to over 120,000 restaurants, schools, hotels, and health care facilities.

"People are spending less in restaurants than they used to, but they are willing to spend more when they do go out to get something really special," said George Holm, CEO of Performance Food Group.

Tests run by the company showed that consumers were willing to pay $2 to $3 more for the same cut of meat if various perks were added, such as traceability and confirmation of proper treatment of the animals. Restaurants purchasing meat from the Performance Food Group are drawing attention to the DNA-traceable meat by placing graphics on menus and by having waiters explain the technology to customers.

"The awareness in general is, in my opinion, at the highest level it's ever been - from a health stand point, from a food safety standpoint," said Phil Lempert, a food marketing expert. "We really need to rebuild confidence in our food and technologies like this help that."

By taking DNA samples at processing and other places during the path from farm to fridge, Performance Food Group can determine the specific animals each cut of meat came from. The technology can also differentiate between organic and Angus meat. Depending on the records kept by farmers and those involved with processing the animals, the complete history could be much more detailed.

DNA tracing can be used to identify the source of contaminated meat during a recall. While this process used to take up to several months to complete, with DNA-tracing, the source of contaminated meat can be identified within hours. Because of the technology's ability to locate the source of contamination, less meat will be affected by recalls, saving producers and suppliers thousands of dollars.

Performance Food Group works with small suppliers that are dedicated to producing meat only for the company. Dealing with larger and more complex supply chains will be a challenge in the future. The cost for the process affects everyone along the supply chain from farmers to consumers.

"It's an up-and-coming technology that will see a lot of use in our industry," said Mike E. John, a former president of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association and vice president of John Ranch Inc. "It is going to take some time to figure out how exactly the industry's going to use it and who's going to pay for it and what it's worth."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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