Use of Identigen Ltd.'s TraceBack technology is touted on packages of Nature's Premium Brand pork products.

A Lawrence-based operation that uses DNA technology to trace the identity of meat products from source to shelves now has its first North American client.

Identigen North America, 4824 Quail Crest Place, is testing pork products for Nature’s Premium Brand LLC, a Northfield, Ill.-based company that offers antibiotic-free fresh pork.

The companies announced the arrangement Monday evening. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Identigen Ltd., an Ireland-based company, opened its North American division in June 2007, choosing Lawrence for a high-tech lab and office center that now employs the bulk of the company’s more than 50 professionals.

Nature’s Premium uses Identigen’s TraceBack technology to ensure that meat from its breed-specific Duroc pigs – raised by family farmers in the Midwest, who keep the animals on strict vegetarian diets without any animal byproducts – is the same meat that ends up in packages on store shelves.

The goal is to boost value for Nature’s Premium by giving retailers added confidence that their customers will regard the all-natural pork products as legitimate, and that they’re getting what they pay for.

“Simply put, this program equates to trust,” John Stewart, Nature’s Premium Brand founder and chief executive officer, said in a statement. “We take samples of actual DNA of every animal in the program, to assure that we are delivering the premium quality assurances customers expect.”

Identigen tests the pork samples in Lawrence, just as it does products already lined up for major retailers in Europe, including Tesco and Superquinn in Ireland.

“DNA is a uniquely accurate, permanent and tamper-proof identification tool,” Don Marvin, Identigen’s president and CEO, said in a statement. “Because it uses nature’s bar code – the unique DNA of every animal – DNA TraceBack is the ultimate proof of product integrity.”

Identigen officials chose Lawrence for the lab center because of its ready supply of skilled workers, given the city’s connections with Kansas University and proximity to other animal-health businesses in the region, including the Kansas City area. Lawrence also is considered close enough to major meat packers and other potential customers.

Identigen also has an office in Denver, which is home to the National Cattleman’s Association and other potential customers.