Is your mutton dressed up as Karoo lamb? A research project at Stellenbosch University has discovered a way to determine exactly where a hunk of lamb comes from, by analysing chemical elements in the meat which reveal what the lamb had eaten and therefore what region it came from."This is the first time we are using an analytical technique to determine the origin of lamb. Up to now, lamb passes through an abattoir or meat-processing facility but we can't tell where it came from," said principal researcher Sara Erasmus.Currently, the origin of lamb is documented through paperwork and certification, but she said there was room for error as the industry was too big to control, with large-scale farming prevalent."It's not that they want to cheat the system necessarily, but when money speaks it overshadows all the other requirements," she said.Agri Western Cape CEO Carl Opperman backed the initiative, but Karoo farmer Pierre Gerber said: "I have eaten in restaurants all over the world and nobody cares what region it comes from."The Karoo's boundaries were contested anyway, so this was a "branding gimmick", he said.Erasmus said they were looking at ways to make the technology more accessible...