Spatially offset Raman spectroscopy (SORS) collects the Raman scattered signal at some distance from the excitation laser spot on the sample. In this way, the Raman spectra are recovered from the sample's sub-surface through the packaging, providing a characteristic fingerprint of the product which can be further analysed chemometrically. This is a relatively new technique, and this review examines all the studies reported to date, where SORS is applied to analyse different foods and beverages, permitting rapid, non-invasive analysis to ensure quality control and authentication of raw materials and end products.

Read the abstract here

This article examines the economic effect of the Covid pandemic, and in particular how it has impacted on the global food security especially in lower-income countries around the world. The World Food Programme estimated in April this year, that 296 million people are undernourished in the 35 countries it works in, which is a 60% increase from the previous year. Not only has the pandemic affected incomes and food supply in lower income countries such as Bangladesh, but also low income families in developed countries.such as the USA because of rising food prices. The World Bank has stated that although there has not generally been food shortages during the pandemic, next seasons's crops could be affected by supply disruptions and inflation affecting key agricultural inputs such as fertilisers and seeds, or prolonged labour shortages.

Read the full article here

Polyphenols are a diverse group of natural compounds contributing to the organoleptic properties of wine. Their distribution and content in wines is dependent on grape variety, where the grapes are grown, oenological practices, and storage conditions and time. Hence they are good markers for wine authenticity. This review examines the analytical methods to determine polyphenols especially the metabolomic studies using NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance) or MS (mass spectrometry) combined with chemometrics, and previous studies utilising polyphenols for wine authenticity.

Read the full open-access paper.

Saffron is the most expensive spice on the international market, and as such is considered the most vulnerable to adulteration and fraud. The most common adulterants such as safflower, marigold and tumeric cannot be detected in the ISO specified certification system examining the aroma, flavour and colour of saffron even at the 20% w/w level. This study aimed to develop a rapid, untargeted and sensitive method to authenticate saffron based on direct analysis in real time (DART) using an ambient ionisation source with an Orbitrap high resolution mass spectrometer (HRMS) to detect adulteration by safflower and/or tumeric. Chemometric analysis permitted discrimination of the metabolic profile under optimised DART-HRMS conditions permitting discrimination of these adulterants down to the 5% level.

Read the full open-access research paper

Between September and December 2020, Belgian Federal Agency for the Safety of the Food Chain (FASFC) inspectors took 45 samples of fresh and frozen tuna from retailers and frozen tuna from wholesalers, and carried out 92 types of analysis.The objective of the operation was to detect the use and frequency of chemical treatments that are used to hide the spoilage of the fish going brown, and passing it off as a fresher item, which retains its red colour. The FASFC analysed for the treatment with colourants, ascorbic acid, nitrite and nitrates, and carbon monoxide. 

More than 35 tons of tuna was seized having been treated with carbon monoxide. Almost half of the 25 samples tested had been treated with nitrite or nitrate. Sixteen of 29 samples tested were non-compliant for amounts of ascorbic acid, which has a limit of 300 mg/kg under EU Regulations.

As a result of the fraud discovered in 2020, the AFSCA will include testing for carbon monoxide treatment in routine checks as part of its control plan in 2021 and will increase inspections on imports of tuna from non-EU countries.

Read the article here

IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) accept a limited number of interns each year, and this month it has advertised two internships on its website to be involved with its laboratory research on food authenticity methodology. Both internships are based in the IAEA Laboratory in Seibersdorf, Austria and are for 12 months.duration.

One internship is dealing with food authenticity screening methods using bench-top or portable instruments - more details here.

The other is performing isotope ratio mass spectrometry analysing food and beverage samples - more details here.

The links above also permit application on-line (after registration) and the closing date is 26/06/2021. If you wish to apply please do so directly, but also can you mention that you learnt about the two internships on the Food Authenticity Network website.

This assay was developed to have a cheaper, simpler and more rapid assay to detect meat species substitution. A novel direct lysis (DL) method was used to extract DNA directly from meat tissue, and to obtain a sample of DNA for multiplex PCR within 15 min, which is more rapid than using a commercial lysis kit.  Four pairs of high-specificity primers for the mitochondrial D-loop region of beef, pork, chicken and duck were designed. When optimised, the assay could detect pork, chicken and duck down to 0.1% (w/w) in meat mixtures even when the meat sample had undergone freezing, heating and autoclaving. The assay was evaluated by testing 79 commercial beef products collected in local markets, and found that nearly 28% of these contained pork or chicken to varying degrees. The accuracy of the results was verified by repeating the analysis using a standard real-time PCR. 

Read the abstract here

This paper reviews the existing methods for determining the authenticity of turmeric. It also presents the results of DNA analysis of samples purchased in Russia, showing that levels of wheat flour were found up to 15%. In order to compensate for the change in colour of adulterated turmeric, the authors looked at the use of sodium and potasium chromates to correct the natural colour of the spice.

Read the abstract here, but the full open access paper in only available in Russian

This report identifies the trends and associated risks likely to impact global supply chains in the year ahead. BSI predicts the following trends will likely dominate the global supply chain:

• Ongoing challenges from COVID-19 creates new threats for organisations in the coming months
• Economic hardship increases the risk of labor exploitation, human rights violations, and stowaway smuggling
• Drug smuggling trends remain consistent, however, means and methods will continue to change and evolve due to COVID-19
• Food fraud and safety will continue to challenge supply chain resilience
• Regulatory changes will test organisational adaptability

Read the article here or register for the full report here

Milk fat is widely used in food products especially fat spreads and chocolate products. The usual method to determined milk fat is by fatty acid profile analysis by gas chromatography, where butyric acid is regarded as the principle marker of authenticity. However, this method is quite laborious to carry out, and  more recently analysts have turned to proton NMR as a more rapid method. Romanian researchers have evaluated the published NMR method, and have discovered that the triplet used in the NMR spectra for butyric acid and milk fat authentication is also produced by n-3 fatty acids such as linolenic acid (C18:3), and therefore may not be suitable for distinguishing milk fat from adulterated or non-dairy fat blends. They verified this by determining the fatty acid composition of 3 synthetic non-dairy fat blends, and obtained fatty acid compositions similar to milk fat, allowing for its misclassification as genuine milk fat.

The ¹H-NMR method was revised by using 3 new NMR fat descriptors based on various integral ratios of signals associated with the CH₂ moiety versus signals associated with butyric and n-3 fatty acids. This combined with chemometric analysis allowed the correct classification of both butter fat samples and simulated butter fat compositions, as well as, other vegetable (linseed, coconut, palm stearin, palm kernel oil, Lallemantia iberica seed oil) and animal fats (beef and sheep tallow). 

Read the full open access paper

Northern-Ireland researchers have compared the performance of 3 NIRS (near-infrared spectroscopy) instruments in the authentication of coriander seed. The iS50 NIRS benchtop instrument, the portable Flame-NIR and the handheld SCiO device were assessed in conjunction with chemometric analysis in order to determine their predictive capabilities and use as quantitative tools. Two hundred authentic coriander seed samples and 90 adulterated samples were analysed on each device. All instruments correctly predicted 100% of the adulterated samples. The best models resulted in correct predictions of 100%, 98.5% and 95.6% for authentic coriander samples using spectra from the iS50, Flame-NIR and SCiO, respectively. The development of regression models highlighted the limitations of the Flame-NIR and SCiO for quantitative analysis, compared to the iS50. However, in terms of sensitivity, robustness and cost, the Flame-NIR and SCiO instruments can be considered as excellent on-site screening tools when combined with confirmatory testing.

Read the full open-access paper

The virtual Food Integrity 2021 Conference on 19-23 April was great success with almost 2000 participants from over 85 countries. Prof Chris Elliott discusses the very important take home messages particularly on food fraud. In this article, he summarise them, firstly as an aide memoire and secondly, so progress in tackling food fraud can be addressed in about a year’s time at the 2022 Food Integrity Conference.

Read the article here

The report gives evidence of the illegal trade of wild caught sturgeon in the lower region of the Danube specifically in Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia and Ukraine. Because sturgeon is an endangered species, the trade in both wild and aquaculture fish and its products (primarily caviar) is regulated through CITES (Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species). The project looked at official data of enforcement on illegal fishing activities. It also carried out a market survey from October 2016 to July 2020, and collected 145 samples of fresh and processed sturgeon, as well as caviar, from the retail and catering sectors in the four countries. During this period all fishing and trade in wild sturgeon was prohibited in Romania, Bulgaria and Ukraine. Serbia was permitted to have a restrictive catch of wild sterlet sturgeon above 40cm in length, but even this was only until the end of 2018, after which it became illegal as well.

All the samples were analysed by 3 DNA methods (mitochondrial DNA sequencing for species, microsatellites for identification of species and hybrids, and SNPs (single nucloeotide polymorphism) for hybrid and species identification). In addition, stable isotopes analysis (SIRA) was carried out to give information on whether the fish was wild or farmed based on feedstuffs, and geographic origin. The results indicated that 30% of the samples tested were illegal, 27 samples were from illegally caught wild sturgeon, 17 samples of caviar were in violation of CITES Regulations.

Download the full report here

Europol supported the Spanish authorities in uncovering an organised crime group laundering millions of euros of illegal profits coming from the trafficking of adulterated saffron. The criminal network mixed real saffron with herbs and chemicals to increase their margins before exporting it. More than 500 shipments of this adulterated saffron have been identified, worth an estimated amount of €10 million.

The criminal network laundered their proceeds through multiple bank transfers emanating from a Spanish company to different companies across the EU pretending to having bought this saffron. The network also used carriers to transport large amount of cash derived from the criminal business. Money, luxury items and machines to adulterate saffron have been seized, and 17 arrests made.

Read Europol's Press Release here

The European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC) has published its April 2021 Food Fraud Monthly Summary reporting food fraud incidents and investigations from around the world.

In addition to the above, there are four interesting reports/review referenced in the Summary. There is an overview of frauds in the olive oil sector. The Italian Government has issued a report on the controls against fraud in 2020 leading to the seizure of 22 million kg of products worth Euros 21 million. The US International Trade Commission estimates that in 2019, the US imported seafood caught via illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing estimated to be worth Euros 2 billion. Europol has published its EU Serious Organised Crime 2021 Report analysing the infiltration of organised crime in the food sector. 

Thanks again to our Member Bruno Séchet for creating this infographic and allowing us to share it with the rest of the Network.

You can download the April 2021 Summary here

This paper develops a conceptual framework to decide when to implement analytical testing programmes for fraud, and a framework to consider the economic costs of fraud and the benefits of its early detection. Factors associated with statistical sampling for fraud detection were considered. Choice of sampling location on the overall food-chain may influence the likelihood of fraud detection.

The paper is the final Scientific Opinion (SO) paper in a series of 6 SO papers developed in the EU Project FoodIntegrity.

The full open access paper is available here. Access to the other 5 Scientific Opinion papers is in the publications section of the FoodIntegrity website.

US Beekeepers have taken a class action in California against 4 US major honey importers and packers along with True Source Honey, an organisation set up by the importers and packers to operate a honey-certification scheme. The Beekeepers claim that the certification scheme relies on outdated methodology to detect adulteration of honey, which fails to detect C3 sugar sources (sugar beet, rice, wheat and cassava). The class action aims to clear supermarket shelves of the alleged adulterated honey in jars and cereal packets, and seeks millions of dollars in damages for lost sales and profits over the past decade.

Read the article here

MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry has been the technique of choice in many applications of food authentication because of requiring simple pretreatments even with complex samples, its ease of use, and speed in giving results. This review discusses the advantages of using MALDI-TOF, and examines its published application to authenticating milk and dairy products, oils, meat, fish and seafood, fruits and vegetables, truffles, and even insect proteins. 

Read the full open access paper here

Malayasian researchers have developed an assay to simultaneously determine 7 meat species (beef, buffalo, chicken, duck, sheep, goat and pork) in processed meat products. Species specific primers to the 7 species were designed, which target the mitochondrial cytochrome b (cytb) and NADH dehydrogenase subunit 5 (ND5) genes, to amplify short DNA fragments (73-263 bp) by PCR (polymerase chain reaction). These were then treated with 3 restriction enzymes ( FatI, BfaI, and HPY188I) to cut the amplicons down into smaller fragments, which were separated by gel electrophoresis. The bp (base pair) length and number of these fragments are unique to each of the species. The assay was tested against 25 non-target species to ensure specificity to the 7 target species, and the limit of detection was determined as 0.5% (w/w) in different matrices. The assay worked on heat treated meat products. A survey of local market meat products detected  buffalo DNA in 84% of commercial beef burgers and frankfurter products tested.

Read the abstract here

This review is a chapter in a recently published book -"Biosensors in Agriculture - Recent Trends and Future Perspectives". Lateral flow assays (strips) can play an important role in food authentication, They can be applied on-site, give rapid results, inexpensive, and simple to use. This review examines all the DNA and protein-based lateral flow assays that have been constructed so far for food adulteration detection.

Read the abstract here