Certified Karoo Meat
MOOK newsletter May 2017 (Afrikaans)New study using sophisticated methods shows that Karoo Lamb has indeed a unique taste.
Proud to present: the new Certified Karoo of Origin Meat brochure
Chef, where is your lamb from?
Karoo Lamb shines at Eat Out Awards 2015.
Traditional Karoo food with a twist
Evening of Vintage Wine and Venison at La Motte in FranschhoekHow Karoo Lamb gets its unique flavour
Stable isotope ratio analysis: A potential analytical tool for the authentication of South African lamb meat
So kry jy die Karoolammerk
Ontsluit reusewaarde van unieke vleis
Karoo Lamb and Mutton - One of the food highlights of the year was the launch of Karoo Food legend Gordon Wright's new cook book Veld to Fork.
Lamsvleis kry vlerke met 'n Karoopaspoort
Eet Alleen Echt Karoo LamThe magic of protecting locally produced food products is not exclusive to EuropeMeet the great Karoo - the country's hottest new gourmet destinationWhat leading chefs say about Karoo Lamb ...Newsletter December 2014The new packaging for certified Karoo Lamb is here
The Story of Karoo Lamb (flymango.com)Wet bepaal watter vleis Karoolam isKos se storie word belangrikHartlam en karoobossiesAnother confirmation that Karoo Lamb is the best.Kies Jou Lekkerste Lamtjops VandagKaroo Lam Sticker Protects Consumer (Beeld)MasterChefs en Karoo-lam kóók
{ click here to download the full article }Tracing your food's origin
Masterchef sussies skryf oor KarooMarketing origin-based foodstuffs: lessons from the rooibos and Karoo lamb industriesKaroolam: Premie verdien miljoeneKeep it legal: Marketing Karoo Lamb in South Africa(THE BUTCHER, JULY 2012) "Keep it legal: Marketing Karoo Lamb in South Africa" (click to start download)
The Karoo Meat of Origin certification mark allows you to know your producer and to know your meat!(SUNDAY TIMES, JULY 21 2013) The Karoo Meat of Origin certification mark allows you to know your producer and to know your meat! (click to start download)
Sertifisering vir gemoedsrus(VEEPLAAS, JUNIE 2013) Deur prof Johann Kirsten, hoof: Departement Landbou-ekonomie, Voorligting en Landelike Ontwikkeling, Universiteit van Pretoria (click to start download)
Farmers Weekly on Karoo Lamb (20 December 2012)
Newsletter #1Our first newsletter is out now. Read it here (click) or subscribe to receive the next letter in your inbox
Organies, ja - Maar is dit beter? (Huisgenoot 4 OKT 2012)Organies, ja - Maar is dit beter? Kos wat organies or vrylopend gemerk is, is duurder. Maar is dit regtig gesonder en smaakliker? Ons het gaan koop en geproe ... deur Petro-Anne Vlok in Huisgenoot 14 Oktober 2012 (Download PDF, 1 MB)
Karoolam - oorsprong gewaarborg (Rooivleis, Sep. 2012)"Karoolam - oorsprong gewaarborg" deur Retha Fourie in Rooivleis, September 2012. Noem die naam Karoo, en die reaksie sal ’n rits byvoeglike naamwoorde ontlok wat almal verband hou met heilsaamheid, hunkering, ongereptheid, ongeskondenheid, egtheid, maar veral kosbaarheid waarmee daar nie gelol moet word nie – dink net aan die geweldige teenkanting wat die nuus oor die moontlike ontginning van skaliegas tot gevolg gehad het. Maar dié sentiment is baie meer as slegs ’n emosionele ervaring – dit bring mee dat die verbruiker bereid is om bietjie meer vir die produk te betaal as vir vir enige ander generiese produk ... { Download PDF }
Karoo road trip: Getaway Magazine AUG 2012This very interesting article about a road trip to the Karoo was published in the Getaway magazine in August 2012.
Click here to download the article (PDF, 2 MB)
Bien Donne Agri Cape Week Karoo Meat of Origin StalletjieKaroo Meat of Origin wil julle almal graag uitnooi om ons te kom ondersteun by ons stalletjie by die Bien Donné Agri Kaap Week wat as volg sal plaasvind:
| Datum | Donderdag 19 tot Saterdag 21 April 2012 |
|---|---|
| Tyd | 09:00 tot 18:00 (Donderdag en Vrydag) en 08:00 tot14:00 (Saterdag) |
| Plek | Bien Donné Proefplaas, tussen Paarl en Franschhoek |
| Tema | ’Verandering vir volhoubaarheid’ |
| Standplaas | Blok C, standplaas 6 in Plaasproduktemark Tent (sien kaarte aangeheg) |
Vir die wat dit nie kan bywoon nie sal ek na afloop van die skou ‘n paar fotos op ons Webblad laai! Ons sien uit om julle almal daar te sien!
Magda en die Karoo Meat of Origin span
Download the latest brochure 
Karoolam-merk kan jou loonNá jare se harde werk om erkenning vir Karoolam as vleis van oorsprong te kry, is daar nou ’n sertifiseringsmerk geregistreer wat die egtheid van die vleis waarborg. Die Karoo se windpompe, kort bossies en troppe skape en die uitgestrekte stilte en diep landelikheid wat dit verteenwoordig, het ’n baie spesiale plek in vele Suid-Afrikaners se harte. Vanjaar, met die aankondiging van planne om skaliegas daar te soek, het die teenstand van duisende Suid-Afrikaners getoon hoe die beskerming van dié droë landstreek met die nasionale psige ineengeweef is. Die openbare ontevredenheid was nie net teenkanting teen die ontginning van skaliegas nie, maar eerder ’n noodroep om die Karoo en al die goeie goed wat dit verteenwoordig, te beskerm. Een van die ikoniese produkte wat met die Karoo geassosieer word, is skaap- en lamsvleis, dog dese en gene probeer daaruit munt slaan; meermale tot nadeel van verbruikers.... lees die artikel in Landbou, deur Amelia Genis | Download page 01 | Download page 02 | Download page 03 |
Deon Meyer supports Certified Karoo Meat of OriginCERTIFIED KAROO MEAT OF ORIGIN/KAROO VLEIS VAN OORSPRONG het onlangs goeie ondersteuning uit ‘n onverwagse oord ontvang. Deon Meyer het in hul kookboek "Kom Eet! Om die tafel met Anita en Deon Meyer", sterk lansie gebreek vir Karoo lam en sterk kapsie gemaak teen al die vervalsingspogings om die verbruikers te mislei. Hy beveel aan dat die verbuiker direk van die boer moet koop. Maar hoe sal dit werk ? Dit is presies wat hierdie sertifiseringskema wil regkry - om dit vir die verbuiker moontlik te maak om direk van die boer te koop sonder om Karoo toe te ry.
Die KDF het vir Deon Meyer van die inisiatief vertel en hy het so gereageer: "Baie dankie vir die skrywe, en die eer van die versoek. Ek het onlangs in Landbou-Weeklblad en op RSG kennis geneem van gesertifiseerde Karoo-lam, en steun graag dié uitstekende inisiatief. Ek koppel graag my naam daaraan."
Protection of the Karoo identityThe Karoo region presents images of wholesomeness, windmills, sheep farms, endless vistas, hospitality and wholesome food ...
The region is famous for its sheep meat with its distinct taste and texture. Karoo sheep meat's distinctive character is derived from grazing on indigenous Karoo veldt vegetation. The name "Karoo" has been abused and misappropriated by many businesses not based in the Karoo. The economic benefits have been taken from the people of the Karoo.
Now for the first time a certification mark will guarantee that you are buying true Karoo meat.
Meat species substitution: When what you see is not what you getFood fraud is big business. Although the true extent is uncertain, such practices are calculated to cost the global food industry up to 25 billion (over ZAR 300 billion) per year and the UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) estimates that up to 10% of commercial food products may be counterfeit.1-2 In this time of rapid globalisation, when a single processed food product may contain ingredients sourced from a dozen different nations, numerous opportunities exist for unscrupulous food producers to fraudulently substitute or add ingredients which are cheaper, but not necessarily desirable.
What is the risk of meat species substitution, why and how does it occur, and what can be done to ensure the authenticity of the meat products you supply? This newsletter seeks to shed some light on these topics.
What we have found? In 2011, one of the FACTS food scientists, Donna Cawthorn, published a set of results from her PhD study conducted at the University of Stellenbosch, in which DNA testing was used to reveal that 9% of fish samples collected from seafood wholesalers in South Africa and a startling 31% of those collected from retail outlets were mislabelled with regards to species.3 In addition, simultaneous research commissioned by FACTS on various meat samples in this country has demonstrated that this type of fraud and species substitution is by no means limited to fish. A further significant concern revealed through our testing is the potential for meat products to be contaminated with undeclared species during processing. Cross-contamination can arise when poorly cleaned equipment or utensils are used for processing meat from two or more different meat species.
Whether deliberate or unintentional, the effects of meat product misdescription are similar, and include consumer deception, potential health risks and the inability of individuals to choose products for the sake of religious and ethical beliefs.
Why and how is fraud perpetuated? Due to their high prices, food products such as meat and fish are highly prone to substitution or adulteration, and such practices are often relatively simple to get away with. The flesh of many meat species differs only subtly in appearance and texture, making it difficult to identify the species based on visual inspection. Once meat is comminuted and incorporated into value-added products, however, identification based on appearance and other sensory parameters becomes virtually impossible. At another level, substitution of meat ingredients may involve the use of cheaper ingredients from the same declared species, but from different body parts (typically offal, connective tissue or blood), or the substitutes may be non-meat ingredients (e.g. plant or dairy sources).4 Apart from the concerns that meat substitution or adulteration generate from economical, religious or ethical viewpoints, counterfeit components may be toxic (e.g. melamine) and the undeclared addition of some ingredients (e.g. soy, wheat, dairy) can pose health risks for consumers with food allergies /intolerances.
The Orion meat saga The deliberate substitution of meat products was recently brought to the forefront in one of the biggest food-related scandals to hit the media in recent years. In November 2011, numerous news reports emerged indicating that Orion Cold Storage in Cape Town had been importing various products from different parts of the world and that the company was deliberately relabelling these as food-grade and Halaal.5-10 According to these reports, Orion was accused of, amongst others, importing pork products from Belgium and Ireland and relabelling them as Halaal sheep or beef products; importing kangaroo from Australia and water buffalo from India and selling these as beef products (often Halaal); importing non-Halaal poultry from Spain (via the UK) and relabelling the goods as Halaal; and importing non-food-grade milk powder for animal feed and relabelling it as Halaal skim milk powder fit for human consumption. These findings not only caused outrage among the Muslim community, but also sent waves of panic through the entire food industry.
Ensuring meat authenticity While knowing your meat suppliers and auditing them regularly may be an obvious step in protecting the authenticity of meat products, in many cases food fraud cannot be discovered by following a paper trail and detection requires "state of the art" scientific analysis.1 Today, DNA-based techniques are considered the most appropriate methods for making species identifications as identical copies of DNA are present in almost all tissue types of an individual, DNA is relatively stable at high temperatures and since the diversity afforded by the genetic code allows differentiation of even very closely-related species.11-13
Over the past few years, FACTS has developed a large number of DNA-based methods for the identification of meat species, both in single ingredient commodities (using DNA sequencing) and in complex food matrices (using species-specific detection methods) (see our full list of services below). The detection of the complete substitution of a single meat species with another is one of the more simple scenarios for identifying food fraud.
In general, DNA sequencing conducted on a queried sample will produce a DNA sequence or "fingerprint" which can be compared to a set of known reference sequences deposited in a credible genetic database. The identity of the specimen can thereby be established, which is either the same or different to the one expected. Investigating the partial substitution or adulteration of meat is considerably more difficult, since it is normally necessary to know the possible identity of the adulterant before it can be detected. To help alleviate the aforementioned difficulties, FACTS is very excited to have recently optimised an animal species screening method which allows the detection of 14 different animal species in a single reaction (more details below). This method, which relies on the use of species-specific DNA probes to detect certain target DNA sequences, will significantly reduce the costs and labour required to ensure product authenticity.
Food fraud is indeed a food industry issue. Consumers are highly reliant on the accurate and complete declaration of food constituents to enable them to make product choices that are consistent with their lifestyles. Brand loyalty can be severely compromised should this be found not to be the case. As such, DNA testing can be of great value for the routine monitoring of meat product authenticity and should be conducted whenever a case of meat adulteration or contamination is suspected.
Source: F.A.C.T.S.
Meat species substitution: getting to grips with the problemFood fraud is big business, and it has been in the news headlines in SA when it comes to fish substitution, and more recently in late 2011 with the Orion meat saga in Cape Town where the company incurred the outrage of the Muslim community due to alleged fraudulent mislabelling of meat products. Respected consultancy, FACTS, headed by the well-known Dr Harris Steinman, now offers comprehensive DNA-based testing to validate meat species.
Although the true extent is uncertain, such food fraud is calculated to cost the global food industry up to 25 billion (over ZAR 300 billion) per year and the UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) estimates that up to 10% of commercial food products may be counterfeit.
In this time of rapid globalisation, when a single processed food product may contain ingredients sourced from a dozen different nations, numerous opportunities exist for unscrupulous food producers to fraudulently substitute or add ingredients which are cheaper, but not necessarily desirable.
What is the risk of meat species substitution, why and how does it occur, and what can be done to ensure the authenticity of the meat products you supply? This newsletter seeks to shed some light on these topics.
Description: Donna CawthornIn 2011, one of FACTS' food scientists, Donna Cawthorn (left), published a set of results from her PhD study conducted at the University of Stellenbosch, in which DNA testing was used to reveal that 9% of fish samples collected from seafood wholesalers in South Africa and a startling 31% of those collected from retail outlets were mislabelled with regards to species.
In addition, simultaneous research commissioned by FACTS on various meat samples in this country has demonstrated that this type of fraud and species substitution is by no means limited to fish.
A further significant concern revealed through its testing, it says, is the potential for meat products to be contaminated with undeclared species during processing. Cross-contamination can arise when poorly cleaned equipment or utensils are used for processing meat from two or more different meat species.
Whether deliberate or unintentional, the effects of meat product misdescription are similar, and include consumer deception, potential health risks and the inability of individuals to choose products for the sake of religious and ethical beliefs.
Due to their high prices, food products such as meat and fish are highly prone to substitution or adulteration, and such practices are often relatively simple to get away with.
The flesh of many meat species differs only subtly in appearance and texture, making it difficult to identify the species based on visual inspection. Once meat is and incorporated into value-added products, however, identification based on appearance and other sensory pacomminuted rameters becomes virtually impossible.
At another level, substitution of meat ingredients may involve the use of cheaper ingredients from the same declared species, but from different body parts (typically offal, connective tissue or blood), or the substitutes may be non-meat ingredients (e.g. plant or dairy sources).
Apart from the concerns that meat substitution or adulteration generate from economical, religious or ethical viewpoints, counterfeit components may be toxic (e.g. melamine) and the undeclared addition of some ingredients (e.g. soy, wheat, dairy) can pose health risks for consumers with food allergies /intolerances.
The deliberate substitution of meat products was recently brought to the forefront in one of the biggest food-related scandals to hit the media in recent years. In November 2011, numerous news reports emerged indicating that Orion Cold Storage in Cape Town had been importing various products from different parts of the world and that the company was deliberately relabeling these as food-grade and Halaal.
According to these reports, Orion was accused of, amongst others, importing pork products from Belgium and Ireland and relabeling them as Halaal sheep or beef products; importing kangaroo from Australia and water buffalo from India and selling these as beef products (often Halaal); importing non-Halaal poultry from Spain (via the UK) and relabeling the goods as Halaal; and importing non-food-grade milk powder for animal feed and relabeling it as Halaal skim milk powder fit for human consumption.
These findings not only caused outrage among the Muslim community, but also sent waves of panic through the entire food industry.
While knowing your meat suppliers and auditing them regularly may be an obvious step in protecting the authenticity of meat products, in many cases food fraud cannot be discovered by following a paper trail and detection requires "state of the art" scientific analysis.
Today, DNA-based techniques are considered the most appropriate methods for making species identifications as identical copies of DNA are present in almost all tissue types of an individual, DNA is relatively stable at high temperatures and since the diversity afforded by the genetic code allows differentiation of even very closely-related species.
Over the past few years, FACTS has developed a large number of DNA-based methods for the identification of meat species, both in single ingredient commodities (using DNA sequencing) and in complex food matrices (using species-specific detection methods).
The detection of the complete substitution of a single meat species with another is one of the more simple scenarios for identifying food fraud.
In general, DNA sequencing conducted on a queried sample will produce a DNA sequence or "fingerprint" which can be compared to a set of known reference sequences deposited in a credible genetic database. The identity of the specimen can thereby be established, which is either the same or different to the one expected.
Investigating the partial substitution or adulteration of meat is considerably more difficult, since it is normally necessary to know the possible identity of the adulterant before it can be detected.
To help alleviate these difficulties, FACTS reports that it's very excited to have recently optimised an animal species screening method which allows the detection of 14 different animal species in a single reaction. This method, which relies on the use of species-specific DNA probes to detect certain target DNA sequences, will significantly reduce the costs and labour required to ensure product authenticity.
"Food fraud is indeed a food industry issue. Consumers are highly reliant on the accurate and complete declaration of food constituents to enable them to make product choices that are consistent with their lifestyles," comments FACTS' Donna Cawthorn.
"Brand loyalty can be severely compromised should this be found not to be the case. As such, DNA testing can be of great value for the routine monitoring of meat product authenticity and should be conducted whenever a case of meat adulteration or contamination is suspected."
For article references and more on this testing, see the FACTS website.
Karoo Development Trust establishedIn order to trace, record, preserve and commemorate the rich heritage which evolved in the Karoo region of South Africa, to promote social and economic development in the Karoo, and to keep in custody such heritage for the descendants of the inhabitants of the Karoo and the South African public in general, the Karoo Development Foundation was established in early 2009 as an inter vivos trust (nr IT1498/2009) in terms of Section 6 (1) of the Trust Property Control Act (Act 57 of 1988).
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