Traceability in the pig production chain.

Traceability is becoming a subject of significant interest to all those involved in pig production and marketing. Until the 1990s, the purposes of farm and animal identification were primarily related to implementation of breeding schemes and health programmes. More recently, other aspects have been emphasised, especially in certain countries where consumer demand has led to the need to trace animals and animal products along the food chain. Pigs are identified principally through ear tags and/or tattoos which are the common 'traditional' systems. However, an important research effort has been directed towards electronic identification. Electronic identification will allow telemetric data collection for quality care in pig production. The carcasses are identified after slaughter, and the meat can also be traced back later in the process. Examples of traceability systems for pigs in various countries are described by the authors.