A SCOTTISH salmon-farming business is investing significantly to ensure the traceability of its salmon as it takes the food fraud fight to North America.
Loch Duart, based in north-west Scotland has been working in the UK with forensic food analysis experts, Oritain, for two years, deploying their ability to trace fresh salmon samples back to the individual farm and waters where the fish were raised. Now Loch Duart is to expand its use of Oritain’s scientific traceability to ensure that when diners in North America are promised genuine Loch Duart salmon, that’s what they are served.
Andy Bing, Loch Duart’s sales director, said: “At Loch Duart we’re proud of our 20-year legacy, rearing extraordinary salmon, asked for by name around the world. Oritain can forensically identify the exact location of any fresh salmon sample they test and this has proven to be a highly effective deterrent for food fraudsters in the UK since we started working with Oritain in 2017.
“That’s why we’re now extending the availability of this analysis into North America.
“It’s another way we can reassure our customers in the US and Canada, that we are actively protecting the Loch Duart brand. Now, when diners choose our delicious tasting Loch Duart salmon, we can prove its unique origins.”
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Using forensic science to determine food, fibre and pharmaceutical provenance, Oritain protects the reputations of its customers by forensically tracing the actual products, not packaging or labels. Their approach proves that “nature gives everything specific markers that are unique to its origin”.
Food fraud is currently estimated to cost the global food industry up to $50bn, posing a real problem for chefs, restaurants and diners.
Award-winning Scottish chef, Mark Greenaway, who runs a restaurant in Edinburgh, said: “Having the confidence that [the salmon I serve] can be traced back to the very waters in which it was raised is essential. I have a particular interest in the world-class array of Scottish produce that is available to chefs, so the traceability that Loch Duart provides shows just how much they care that chefs and their diners get exactly what they pay for.”
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