利用高科技追踪肉类产品原产地可行吗？

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着一系列贴错标签和食品污染丑闻侵蚀消费者信心，一场试图以科学方式识别人们所购买肉类产品原产地的努力正在全球范围内展开，而牛羊肉生产商正走在这方面的前沿。

从苏格兰高地到新西兰牧场的农场团体都在投资于一项技术，尝试通过寻找牲畜身上留下的养殖地土壤、牧草、水源和空气的化学痕迹为肉类产品加上“指纹”。

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新西兰南岛汉默温泉附近的羊……或者这张图片不过只是一张硬纸板做出的背景而已？肉类产品生产商正打算推出一个系统，使用科学方法确认产品的原产地。
此举显示出，在全球食品链日益复杂且不透明之际，依赖农场收入的经济体为维护其高品质的声誉以及较高的价格水平做出了怎样的努力。

农场主斯特林(Nigel Stirling)说，如果企业能找到一种方式，抓住那些试图将非产自新西兰的产品当作新西兰产品来卖的不良进口商，那么就需要这样去做。斯特林在新西兰南岛奥塔戈(Otago)的一个面积1,000英亩（405公顷）的农场上饲养羊和鹿。他说，如果有能力鉴别其他非新西兰肉类产品是否被当作新西兰肉类产品出售，则可以据此保护我们未来的利润。

一系列丑闻令食品行业声誉受到打击，比如在欧洲马肉被当作牛肉卖；在中国，婴儿配方奶粉添加三聚氰胺，不明肉类被当作新西兰羊肉出售。

在新西兰，科学家们说，将肉类产品的产地追溯到具体某个农场现在是有可能实现的。他们说，牧场上的奶牛体内的氮、碳等元素的水平会与当地土壤成分一致。食品和林业出口额占到新西兰总出口额的70%。

斯特林将大部分牲畜卖给Alliance Group Ltd.，新西兰出口的肉类产品中约30%是这家公司生产的，其年收入为14亿新西兰元（合11亿美元）。Alliance将测试一项技术，对于那些在中国出售的、挂着产自新西兰标签的肉类产品，这项技术将可以识别它们的原产地。越来越多的中国中产阶级正在增加肉类蛋白摄入量。

该公司计划从亚洲和中东地区国家购买并宰杀绵羊，然后把这些羊肉运到新西兰的实验室测试，从而开始建立一个指纹登记档案。

一个长期目标是，让到处巡访的调查人员突击造访贩卖Alliance品牌肉类产品的批发商和餐厅，随机进行测试。

Oritain是一家总部设在新西兰的公司，专门开发上述技术。该公司的首席科学家麦克劳德(Rebecca McLeod)认为，肉类的自然化学成分会有很大的区别。

她举例说，相比在中国饲养的牲畜，在新西兰海岸附近饲养，或在火山土壤上吃草长大的牛可能硫酸盐含量较高。

食品生产商有足够的理由来保护它们的品牌。比如说，在中国各城市的小肥羊火锅(Little Sheep Mongolian Hot Pot)店内，新西兰羊肉的价格比本地羊肉价格高出15%。

今年5月，上海有关部门突击检查了一个肉类批发市场，并以怀疑产品真实原产地为由没收了标注为“新西兰羊肉片”的肉类产品。中国国有媒体报道说，发现有用老鼠、水貂和狐狸等动物肉冒充牛羊肉的情况。

追踪食物原产地的技术还处于初级阶段。科学家们说，这项技术还需要数年时间才能获得广泛应用。

Beef and lamb producers are at the forefront of a global push to try to verify scientifically the provenance of the meat that people buy, as a series of scandals over mislabeled and tainted food eat into consumer confidence.

Farm groups from the highlands of Scotland to the pastures of New Zealand are investing in technology that tries to 'fingerprint' meat by looking for chemical traces of the soil, grass, water and air where the animals once roamed.

The move shows how economies dependent on farm income are battling to retain their reputation for high quality--and their premium prices--in an increasingly complex and opaque global food chain.

'If companies can find a way to pounce on any rogue importers that are trying to pass off something that isn't from New Zealand as from New Zealand, then it needs to be done,' said Nigel Stirling, who raises sheep and deer on a 1,000-acre farm in Otago on New Zealand's South Island. The ability to tell if other products are being sold as New Zealand meat could protect future profit, he says.

Scandals such as horse meat being marketed as beef in ready-made meals in Europe, melamine in baby formula and an unidentified meat sold as New Zealand lamb in China have tarnished the food industry's reputation.

In New Zealand, where the food and forestry sectors contribute 70% of export earnings, scientists say it is now possible to trace the origin of meat to specific farms. They say a cow reared on pasture will have levels of nitrogen, carbon and other elements that match the local soil.

Mr. Stirling sells much of his livestock to Alliance Group Ltd., which produces around 30% of the country's meat exports and posts 1.4 billion New Zealand dollars (US$1.1 billion) in annual revenue. Alliance is set to test technology to identify the origins of meat being sold in China--where a growing middle class is eating more protein--that is labeled as coming from New Zealand.

The company plans to buy and slaughter sheep from countries in Asia and the Middle East and ship the meat to laboratories in New Zealand for testing to begin building a 'registry' of fingerprints.

The long-term goal is to have roving teams of investigators swooping in unannounced on wholesalers and restaurants anywhere Alliance-branded meat is sold to conduct random testing.

Rebecca McLeod, lead scientist at Oritain, a New Zealand-based company that developed the technology, expects to find big differences in the natural chemical makeup of the meat.

For instance, a cow reared close to the sea or chewing grass on a farm with volcanic soils in New Zealand will likely have a higher number of sulfates than cattle in China, she says.

Food producers have good reason to protect their brands. New Zealand lamb is 27% more expensive than local lamb at Little Sheep Mongolian Hot Pot, a popular restaurant chain in Chinese cities, for example.

In May, Shanghai authorities raided a wholesale meat market and seized meat branded as 'New Zealand Sliced Lamb' amid doubt over its true origin. China's state media has reported the discovery of rat, mink and fox meat being passed off as beef and mutton.

Technology to track the provenance of food is in its infancy, and scientists say it will be years before it can be rolled out widely.