News

An e-seminar covering issues surrounding the use of CBD in food supplements and difficulties likely to be encountered in their analytical testing has been published.

It aims to help manufacturers, suppliers and laboratories understand the issues surrounding the use of cannabidiol, more commonly known as CBD, in food supplements and the difficulties likely to be encountered in testing food supplements containing CBD. The manufacture and supply of food supplements are strictly controlled under food laws, it is therefore important to understand what CBD is and how it is regulated in food products. This presentation focuses on CBD, its chemistry in relation to food supplements and regulatory legislation, as well as considering the analytical aspects of measuring CBD in food supplements.

The e-seminar is intended for individuals working in official control laboratories, the food industry and those involved with the UK official control system.

The production of this e-seminar was co-funded by the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Defra, the Food Standards Agency, Food Standards Scotland and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, BEIS via the Government Chemist, under the Joint Knowledge Transfer Framework for Food Standards and Food Safety Analysis.

This e-seminar has also been added to the Food Authenticity Network's Training Section, where 12 other authenticity related e-seminars are available.

An article published in the I online newspaper reports on the ongoing risk of herbs and spices adulteration.  

Investigators and analysts have told i that the $20bn (£17bn) global herbs and spices industry is being increasingly targeted by organised crime gangs and fraudsters determined to use disruptions to global supply chains, caused by factors from Brexit to Covid-19 to the war in Ukraine, to cash in with fake, adulterated or contaminated products.

This article reviews recent surveillance findings, common adulterants, detection methods and includes comments from the National Food Crime Unit and the Scottish Food Crime and Incidents Unit.

Read full article

Photo by Andrea Leon on Unsplash

Here, a biomarker-free detection assay was developed using an optical nanosensor array to aid in the food safety of citrus juices.

Researchers have coupled machine learning capability of their computational process named algorithmically guided optical nanosensor selector (AGONS) with the fluorescence data collected using their nanosensor array, in a biomarker-free detection assay, to construct a predictive model for citrus juice authenticity. 

Over 707 measurements of pure and adulterated citrus juices were collected for prediction. Overall, the approach achieved above 90% accuracy on three data sets in discriminating three pure citrus fruit juices, artificially sweetened tangerine juice with various concentrations of corn syrup, and juice-to-juice dilution of orange juice using apple juice. 

Read abstract

Photo by ABHISHEK HAJARE on Unsplash

 

Telemeres are genetic book-ends that cap the ends of coding sequences within chromosomes.  Their length is chipped away every time DNA replicates.  Telemeric length is an indicator of an animals age but can also be suggestive of stress or environmental conditions. 

An interesting review article has been published that examines telomeric length as potential verification for fish authenticity descriptions such as organic vs conventional rearing or wild-caught vs aquaculture.

Read abstract  

Photo by Florencia Viadana on Unsplash

Europol investigation involving law enforcement authorities from 31 countries (Operation Silver Axe VII) found widespread evidence of counterfeit pesticides on sale in the EU. 

A number of modus operandi were discovered:

1. The import of almost finalised products in containers resembling well-known brands. Once imported, they need only to be labelled before going on the black market.
2. The import of illegal ingredients for the production of pesticides. To lower the chances of detection, the chemicals are only used at the final production stage at the locations where the packaging is also being counterfeited. 
3. The misuse of the parallel trading system, which eases the approval procedures of pesticides sold within the EU. As part of this system, a plant protection product that is authorised in one Member State (Member State of origin) may, subject to granting a parallel trade permit, be introduced, placed on the market or used in another Member State. Some criminals abuse this system by introducing illegally produced plant protection products to a Member State, fraudulently claiming that they have already been approved in a different Member State and thereby removing the need for further approvals.

Counterfeit and substandard formulations not only risk environmental damage and pesticide resistance but can also lead to unexpected chemical residues in food. This is an example of where food fraud impacts food safety.

Read full article

A4I is a programme that gives UK businesses of any size access to cutting-edge R&D expertise and facilities to help solve problems that they have been unable to tackle using standard technologies and techniques. It might be around product reliability, cost or product lifetime.

The National Measurement Laboratory (NML) at LGC is a founding partner of the A4I Programme and is the UK’s designated institute for chemical and bio-measurement, supporting the work of the Government Chemist.

Through A4I, we provide companies with access to our state-of-the-art measurement and analytical capabilities, helping them address problems and challenges in innovative ways, boosting their competitiveness and productivity. Other partners include, National Physical Laboratory (NPL), the National Engineering Laboratory (NEL), the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), Advanced Sustainable Manufacturing Technologies, Henry Royce Institute, National Gear Metrology Lab, National Institute for Biological Standards and Control, Newton Gateway to Mathematics

Through improved chemical and bio-measurements we support manufacture and trade, protect consumers, enhance skills, and improve quality of life. 

Read our A4I cases studies to find out how the NML helped companies with their measurement challenges in other sectors such as environmental monitoring or food.

Air Quality Research – AQR optimises clean water treatment technology

Puraffinity - tackling global water scarcity with game-changing innovation.

Coconut Collaborative Ltd - Rapid and robust screening approaches to support food quality control.

APPLICATIONS FOR ROUND 8, STAGE 1 ARE NOW OPEN UNTIL AUGUST 31, 2022

For more information about the Programme and how to apply, please visit the  A4I website

Do you have a question for the NML? email us here

Research published by the Food Standards Agency indicates that the top three food-related concerns amongst consumers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are food waste, the amount of sugar in food, and animal welfare, with over half of respondents reporting that they are concerned about each of these issues.

Food and You 2, the FSA’s flagship consumer survey, also shows that two in five of us say we’ve eaten less processed food in the past year, and are trying to cut down on food waste.

The survey is an official statistic and measures self-reported knowledge, attitudes and behaviours related to food safety and other food issues amongst adults in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland twice a year.

This latest survey was conducted between October 2021 and January 2022 and provides rich and high quality data on what people think, feel and do when it comes to food.

Key findings 

Confidence in food safety, authenticity and the food supply chain  

• Most respondents (92%) reported that they were confident that the food they buy is safe to eat and more than 8 in 10 (86%) respondents were confident that the information on food labels is accurate 
• Around three quarters of respondents (76%) reported that they had confidence in the food supply chain 
• Respondents were more likely to report confidence in farmers (88%) and shops and supermarkets (85%) than in takeaways (61%), and food delivery services (45%) 

Concerns about food  

• Most respondents (86%) had no concerns about the food they eat 
• When prompted, the most common concerns amongst all respondents were food waste (63%), the amount of sugar in food (59%) and animal welfare (56%)

Food security  

• Across England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, 82% of respondents were classified as food secure (70% high, 12% marginal) and 18% of respondents were classified as food insecure (10% low, 7% very low) 

Eating out and takeaways 

• Around half of respondents had eaten food in a restaurant (53%), from a café, coffee shop or sandwich shop (either to eat in or to take out) (52%) or ordered a takeaway directly from a takeaway shop or restaurant (50%) in the previous 4 weeks 
• Over a third of respondents had eaten food from a fast-food outlet (either to eat in or take out) (38%) or ordered a takeaway from an online food delivery company (for example, Just Eat, Deliveroo, Uber Eats) (35%) in the previous 4 weeks  
• Most respondents (89%) had heard of the FHRS and around 4 in 10 (41%) respondents reported checking the food hygiene rating of a business in the previous 12 months  

Food allergies, intolerances and other hypersensitivities  

• Just over 1 in 10 (12%) respondents reported that they had a food intolerance, 4% reported having a food allergy, and 1% reported having coeliac disease 
• Of the respondents who reported having a food allergy, the most common foods reported as causing a reaction were peanuts (26%) and fruit (24%) 
• Of the respondents who reported having a food intolerance, the most common foods reported as causing a reaction were cow’s milk and products made with cow’s milk (41%) and cereals containing gluten (19%) 

Eating at home 

• Over two thirds (69%) of respondents identified the use-by date as the information which shows that food is no longer safe to eat 
• Around two-thirds (67%) of respondents reported that they always check use-by dates before they cook or prepare food 
• Over half of respondents (56%) reported that they never wash raw chicken, whilst 40% of respondents wash raw chicken at least occasionally 

Food shopping: sustainability and environmental impact  

• Half (50%) of respondents thought that eating less processed food and 47% thought that minimising food waste contributed most to someone having a sustainable diet  
• Most (59%) respondents thought that buying locally produced food or food that is in season contributed most to someone making sustainable food shopping choices  

Sustainable diets, meat alternatives and genetic technologies  

• The most common changes respondents reported making in the previous 12 months were eating less processed food (40%) and starting to minimise food waste (40%)
• Around a third (32%) of respondents reported that they currently eat meat alternatives, 21% of respondents reported that they used to eat meat alternatives but no longer do and 39% of respondents reported that they had never eaten meat alternatives 
• Respondents reported greater awareness and knowledge of genetically modified (GM) food (9% had never heard of GM food) than gene-edited or genome-edited food (GE) (42% had never heard of GE food) 

Awareness, trust and confidence in the FSA 

• Around three quarters (77%) of respondents who had at least some knowledge of the FSA reported that they trusted the FSA to make sure ‘food is safe and what it says it is’ 

Read full report.

UKAS with Food Standards Agency (FSA) and Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) would like to invite laboratories to express an interest to join a pilot programme to become accredited by UKAS to perform non-targeted food /feed authenticity testing against the conformity assessment requirements of ISO/IEC 17025:2017 and UKAS document Lab 13 for expressing opinions and interpretations.

This programme presents an excellent opportunity for laboratories to demonstrate their testing capabilities together with opinions and interpretations under ISO/IEC 17025:2017 accreditation, in the ever evolving authenticity testing food market place.

Successful applicants will be accredited to undertake non-targeted authenticity testing using specific techniques/methodologies and as part of this pilot, are expected to include an opinion on the authenticity of the food product on the accredited test report.

The number of laboratories participating the pilot programme is limited. Official laboratories undertaking this pilot study will be supported in funding and funding will be considered for other eligible laboratories. On-going accreditation costs would be the responsibility of the laboratory.

UKAS is currently gauging the potential level of interest in this area so would also like to hear from technical experts that may wish to support UKAS as a stakeholder to provide expertise and support to the development of accreditation criteria and process.

To express an interest, organisations will need to respond by email to developmentenquiries@ukas.com by 30 Sept 2022

Read full article.

This review examines the potential of non-targeted metabolomic analysis to assess food authenticity. It looks at range of products, which includes wine, rice, olive oil, spices, and honey because they are regarded as the most vulnerable to fraud. The identification of biomarkers  for geographical origin is central theme of the review.

Read the abstract here

The inclusion of offal, which usually has a lower value than meat, in any meat product in the EU and UK must be declared on the label. This literature review investigated appropriate methods to determine the adulteration of meat with offal, especially those technologies suitable for future validation to underpin a high throughput, low-cost method suitable for application by enforcement laboratories. The technologies, which determine elemental composition and peptide markers, were particularly highlighted as demonstrating potential for future development.

Read the abstract here

EVOO is one of the foods lidentified as being very vulnerable to food fraud. This comprehensive review examines the  application of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy to EVOO as a reliable and rapid tool to verify different aspects of its adulteration, such as undeclared blends with cheaper oils and cultivar, and geographical origin mislabelling. NMR makes it possible to use both targeted and untargeted approaches, and to determine the olive oil metabolomic profile and the quantification of its constituents.

Read the full open access paper here

 This article gives a rapid overview of what is food fraud, how it is detected, and how it is being tackled in the USA.

Read the article here

The NCSC (National Cyber Security Centre) is a UK Government organisation, which offers practical guidance on cybersecurity and responds to cybersecurity incidents. It has issued advice to anyone thinking about using blockchain in their supply chain. The advice is contained in a White Paper looking at distributed ledger technology, and whether this is the appropriate technology and the best tool for the job, as well as some of the misconceptions around the technology.

Read the blockchain blog, and the White Paper.

Front-face fluorescence spectroscopy (FFFS) can detect fluorescent molecules in solid matrices without contact and sample preparation. This study explores the potential use of FFFS as a rapid, non-destructive technique coupled with multi-variate analysis for predicting beef adulteration with chicken. Samples of varying amounts of raw, minced chicken mixed with uncooked minced beef were prepared (1%, 2%, 3%, 4%, 5%, 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%, and 100%). Fluorescence spectra were obtained from pure and prepared adulterated meat samples, and principle component analysis, partial least square regression and hierarchical cluster analysis were used as chemometric tools. The chemometrics were able to determine adulteration in minced beef meat from 10% chicken meat, but were unable to  determine adulteration from below 5%. 

Read the full open access paper

Labmate Online has published 4 articles this month, which deal with food fraud:

What is food fraud?      

A complete guide to food fraud and foodomics      

 What is the most common form of food fraud?

4 Types of food fraud  

These give a good introduction to the subject.

This paper details the within-laboratory and inter-laboratory trial validation of a multiplex real-time PCR method for the simultaneous, sensitive and specific detection and semi-quantitative estimation of the nut species - peanut, hazelnut, walnut and cashew in processed food. The assay developed for the 4 species of nuts (peanut, hazelnut, walnut and cashew) was based on a TaqMan™ real-time PCR method, which targeted  multicopy sequences from mitochondrial, ribosomal RNA genes and chloroplasts, respectively. A series of prepared cookies, sausages, sauce powders, and veggie burgers spiked with different amounts of the 4 defatted nuts were used for the validation trials.The within-laboratory trial checked the specificity, crosstalk, sensitivity [limit of detection (LOD) including asymmetric LOD], precision and trueness of the assay. The inter-laboratory trial with 12 participating laboratories conducted both qualitative and quantitative determinations, and determined trueness/recoveries, precision, and measurement uncertainty. Using multicopy target sequences, a very sensitive detection of the allergenic ingredients is possible. Within the collaborative trial, a concentration of 0.64 mg/kg (i.e. approx. 0.1–0.2 mg “nut” protein/kg) could be reliably detected in a processed cookie matrix. With regards to quantitative analysis, there was insufficient recovery data (bias) resulting in measurement uncertainties of more than 50%. The results of in-house tests suggest that roasting of nuts is the main factor inducing deviant (low) recoveries.

Read the full open access paper

Species identification of mussels (Mytilus spp.) is challenging not only because there are 7 species commercialised globally, but there is hybridisation of species where they coexist in the same geographical area. The most popular approach to specimen identification is sequencing analysis, which can be performed by different methods.One of them is the Forensically Informative Nucleotide Sequencing (FINS), which involves the estimation of sequence similarity among specimens by phylogenetic methods is based on genetic distances and drawing a phylogenetic tree. However, methodologies based on tree topologies perform poorly for species identification.

In this study, the performance of two mono-locus approaches for species identification  in 61 Mytilus mussels are compared: the high-resolution melting analysis of the PAP (polyphenolic adhesive protein) gene and the partial sequencing of the H1C (histone) gene. The H1C sequences were analysed with five different methods. Both approaches show discrepancies in the identification of putative hybrids, but  if the putative hybrids are excluded, the two methods show substantial to perfect agreement. This study highlights the need to use standardised molecular tools, as well as the use of multi-locus methods for SI of Mytilus mussels in testing laboratories.

Read the full open access paper here

The continued depletion of wild fish stocks is leading to increased strain on the aquaculture sector in terms of sustaining the supply of fish and seafood to global markets. This article examines how digital transformation can help support and meet expansion needs of the fisheries/aquaculture industries that includes exploiting and harnessing ICT (information and communications technology), IoT (internet of things), Cloud-edge computing, AI (artificial intelligence), machine learning, immersive technologies and blockchain. Digital technologies can bring significant operational benefits for the global food chain, improving efficiencies and productivity, reducing waste, contamination and food fraud.

Read the full open access article here

Cypriot halloumi cheese was grant PDO status in October 2021, after a 7 year consideration by the European Commission. Sales and exports of Cypriot halloumi generated €270m annually in 2020/1. Recently, German authorities have confiscated Cypriot halloumi because it did not have PDO certification, and cheesemakers in Cyprus have also seen their products confiscated by Cypriot customs officials before being loaded onto planes heading for EU markets, as they did not comply with PDO criteria. The main issue appears to be the ratio of goats and sheeps milk to cows milk, which must be greater than 51% to meet the PDO specification. A non-negotiable compromise has been issued by the Cypriot President, which amongst other things gives cheesemaker two months to fully comply with the PDO specification. 

Read the article here

Seafood is one of the foods which suffers a high prevalence of food fraud. This review examines reported seafood fraud incidents from the European Union's Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed, Decernis's Food Fraud Database, HorizonScan, and LexisNexis databases between January 01, 2010 and December 31, 2020. It provides a global comparison, and assesses food fraud trends across 80 countries and 72 seafood species. It also provides an analysis of the types of fraud that exist within the seafood supply chain and the supply chain nodes that are more vulnerable to criminality.

Read the full open access paper