A novel identification technology for livestock based on the principles of peptide-keyhole limpet hemocyanin immunisation is described allowing traceability of labelled animals and derived meat products throughout the complete production chain. Strong and long-lasting anti-peptide-immunoglobulin G responses were induced in pigs and beef cattle via immunisations with different peptide–KLH derivatives. Subsequently, anti-peptide antibodies are reproducibly detectable in serum and meat of pigs and cattle by means of ELISA. In respect of origin verification and compliance marking in quality meat programs, especially for pigs, the bioactive labelling technology meets all necessary requirements for greater transparency in the meat production chain.

This paper describes a novel antibody‐based livestock movement control tool and method of meat allocation, both in livestock husbandry as well as during the meat‐processing chain. Immuno Track® fulfills diverse prerequisites and meets regulatory demands which are substantial for a successful monitoring technology: (i) the induction of long‐lasting antibody responses detectable onsite throughout the whole mast period of pigs, (ii) a single immunization injection with protein derivatives is sufficient to evoke a strong epitope‐specific antibody response, and (iii) the complete degradation of the protein markers after the antibody response has been triggered in meatproducing animals such as cattle or pigs. There are diverse fields of application for the Immuno‐Track marker technology, such as in quality meat programs, as compliance markers for animal vaccines or as a tool for verification of origin. Combination of this monitoring technology with the husbandry and identification databases for cattle and pigs within the European Community will lead to greater transparency in meat production, thereby regaining consumers' trust in concomitant structures of the meat‐producing industry.

Highly immunogenic capsomers (pentamers) and virus‐like particles (VLPs) were generated through insertion of foreign B cell epitopes into the surface‐exposed loops of the VP1 protein of murine polyomavirus and via heterologous expression of the recombinant fusion proteins in E. coli. Usually, complex proteins like the keyhole limpet hemocyanin (KLH) act as standard carrier devices for the display of such immunogenic peptides after chemical linkage. Here, a comparative analysis revealed that antibody responses raised against the carrier entities, KLH or VP1 pentamers, did not significantly differ up to 18 weeks, demonstrating the highly immunogenic nature of VP1‐based particulate structures. The carrier‐specific antibody response was reproducibly detected in the meat juice after processing. More importantly, chimeric VP1 pentamers and VLPs carrying peptides of 12 and 14 amino acids in length, inserted into the BC2 loop, induced a strong and long‐lasting humoral immune response against VP1 and the inserted foreign epitope. Remarkably, the epitope‐specific antibody response was only moderately decreased when VP1 pentamers were used instead of VLPs. In conclusion, we identified polyomavirus VP1‐based structures displaying surface‐exposed immunodominant B cell epitopes as being an efficient carrier system for the induction of potent peptide‐specific antibodies. The application of this approach in vaccine marker technology in livestock holding and the meat production chain is discussed.