A study into beef traceability by a Nuffield Scholar has provided insight into what Canada does well and where it needs to improve.

Cheryl Hazenberg from the Canadian Angus Association traveled to 9 different countries over 15 months so she could study traceability programs around the world as part of a Nuffield Scholarship.

She tells Rural Roots Canada the best was surprisingly Uruguay, a program that has only come into place in the last two years after an outbreak of foot and mouth disease.

“One of the big things they have is fully implant traceability and those systems work with everything else. Their animal health traceability actually track value added attributes as well so there is a bit of an add on there for their branded programs and it’s all in one spot,” says Hazenberg adding,  “it is all heavily regulated of course because it is run by the government which maybe isn’t a great thing but it does work and that’s how they get 100 per cent compliance.”

Hazenberg says Canada is also a world leader in traceability, but there is always room to grow.

“Our consumers are probably asking for more information in North America than anywhere else in the world with all these niche brands and things that are coming out and we don’t have a really good centralized place to share that information.”

She says there is also a great program in Northern Ireland, which encourages local restaurants to have five local ingredients on their menu in order for national and tourism promotion.  For the full study click here.