When you buy that cut of meat at the grocery store, do you really know what you’re getting? With recent scandals in the meat industry prompting consumers to call for greater accountability from suppliers, companies such as Maple Leaf, are looking for new ways to ensure that their products are exactly what they claim to be. This quest brought Maple Leaf to Trent and more, specifically, to the University’s world-class DNA lab, led by Dr. Brad White, to look for innovative solutions to meet today’s complex challenges.

Dr. Vythegi Srithayakumar, a Trent postdoc working with Professor White in the Natural Resources DNA Profiling and Forensic Centre at Trent, is working closely with Maple Leaf on developing a DNA traceability program for their meat products.

“We have the infrastructure we need to complete this type of project here,” explains Dr. Srithayakumar. “We have the ability to extract so many samples using our robots in a short period of time, and the ability to automate everything on a large scale. So if industry wants us to test thousands of samples within a short period of time we can carry it out.”

The project is made possible through a fellowship recently awarded to Dr. Srithayakumar, jointly funded by Maple Leaf and Mitacs, an organization that creates unique alliances between private companies, government and academia, in order to develop the next generation of innovators with vital scientific and business skills.

For Dr. Srithayakumar, the Mitacs fellowship is a perfect fit with her career goals, which she hopes will lead her to work within the private sector.

“I like finding answers to real questions,” she explains. “When you are into pure research, you don’t get to see the results being applied right away. With the research I’m doing for Maple Leaf, I’m doing it at the same time as I’m having to apply it, and that’s what drives me.”

According to Dr. John Webb, director of Emerging Science at Maple Leaf, the research is timely. “The recent European horsemeat scandal has focused the need for traceability and accountability right through to the final product on the consumer’s plate. The recent order of magnitude reduction in the cost of high-throughput DNA testing now makes this a practical possibility to ensure the integrity of products and build consumer confidence,” he explains. 

When it came to finding a partner for the task at hand, Dr. Webb says the choice was clear: “The Natural Resources DNA Profiling and Forensic Centre under Dr. Brad White at Trent University is a world leader in the development of DNA technologies to track and protect wildlife.  We are thrilled and excited to have this opportunity to move closer to the group through the Mitacs fellowship.”

For Dr. Srithayakumar the opportunity will help her to build key industry contacts and to apply her academic skills in a real-world setting. The Mitacs fellowship will allow Dr. Srithayakumar to attend international meetings in a business setting.

“Maple Leaf, under the leadership of John Webb, is mentoring Dr. Srithayakumar and helping her to get both the academic and private sector experience that will help her career to flourish,” says Prof. White.