Method of establishing the origin of useful animals and products produced therefrom

Method according to any of the preceding claims, the immunogen being such that the specific antibodies formed remain permanently in the organism of the animal and can be detected by means of enzyme-immunological or immunochemical detection methods.

Use of at least one

• a) immunogen which is nontoxic to animals and humans, for the biological tagging of a live animal and of products derived therefrom, said animal originating from a specific geographical region, individual production organization, producer group, distribution organization, or quality meat program, and said immunogen being selected to correlate to the origin of said animal, and of
• b) enzyme-immunological or immunochemical detection method for detecting, in the live animal or in products derived therefrom, the specific antibodies formed by applying the at least one immunogen, and determining said origin of the animal, wherein the immunogen is a protein and/or peptide which, in normal livestock management, reaches the organism of the animal neither as vaccine nor as medicament nor via the food chain and against which no antibodies are formed naturally in the animals.

A method of identifying an origin of an animal and of products derived therefrom, said animal having been biologically tagged according to said origin when said animal was alive by applying at least one immunogen which is nontoxic to the animal and humans, said immunogen being a protein and/or peptide which, in customary livestock management, reaches the organism of the animal neither as vaccine nor as medicament nor via the food chain and against which no antibodies are formed naturally in the animal, said method comprising the steps of:

• a) detecting, in the live animal or in products derived therefrom, the specific antibodies formed by the applying of the at least one immunogen selected to indicate the origin of the animal, using an enzyme-immunological or immunochemical detection method, and
• b) determining said origin of the animal, said origin being selected from the group consisting of a geographical origin of the animal, an individual production organization of the animal, a distribution organization of the animal, and a quality meat program of the animal.