Overview

Traceability, in which the product is tracked from its origin through processing, is becoming a competitive advantage to today’s meat suppliers. Product quality attributes and/or the actual manufacturing process is verified or certified by a third party.

Such programs may become increasingly important as the food industry makes further attempts to appeal to the consumers who want to know where their food came from and how it was raised.  April 2008 . . . Certified/Verified Pork

Marketing

• Berkshire Pork - The American Berkshire Association certifies pork sold as “100% Pure Berkshire Pork.”
• Du Breton Natural Pork, Notre-Dame-du-Lac, Quebec - The first pork producer to qualify for the American Humane Association’s “Free Farmed” label in 2001. Pork with the Free Farmed label assures consumers that it comes from animals that were treated according to animal welfare standards developed by the American Humane Association. USDA’s Ag Marketing Service audits the Free Farmed certification program.
• Factors Affecting Pork Consumption, Economic Research Service, USDA, 2005 - Pork ranks third in annual U.S. meat consumption. This report analyzes existing and potential pork consumption trends, using demographic data.
• Free Farmed, Washington, D.C. - This site details how farmers can certify for the Free Farmed label.
• Prairie Grove Farms, DeKalb, Illinois - A provider of USDA-certified 100 percent antibiotic-free pork. The animals are bred for quality and fed for health.

Processing/Manufacturing

• American Association of Meat Processors (AAMP) - Representing more than 1,700 small- and medium-sized meat, poultry and food businesses.
• North American Meat Processors Association (NAMP) - A nonprofit trade association that provides information and technical services to the meat processing industry.

Production

• Traceability for the Pork Industry: Challenges and Opportunities, National Pork Board and the American Meat Science Association, 2002 -  This document defines what pork traceability is in the United States and other countries.
• USDA Auditing Services - Included in the list of links is a pdf file titled Application for Audit, Review and Compliance Service – LS-313.
• USDA Process Verified Program - This site includes a links to a comparison of pork certification programs.
• USDA Procedure for Marketing Program Specification Development and Approval - This site outlines procedures for developing certified pork.

Businesses/Case Studies

• America’s Best Pork, by farmer-owned Farmland Industries, is a USDA Process Verification Program that offers 100 percent documented traceability.
• Organic Valley Family of Farms - Organic Valley requires organic production certification. Only 50 percent Berkshire-sired hogs are acceptable.
• Van Wie Natural Foods of Hudson, New York, is a USDA-certified natural grower of pork. Animals are raised without the use of chemicals, hormones or antibiotics.

Links checked February 2008.