The global demand for coconut sugar has increased 500% in the last 10 years, giving producers problems to supply this demand. Coconut sugar like other palm sugars, is marketed as being richer in minerals and with a lower glycaemic index than cane sugar. Its high price leaves it vulnerable to adulteration with cane or even beet sugar. Coconut sugar is from a C₃ plant, hence adulteration with cane sugar from a C₄ plant is easily detected by measuring the ¹³C/¹²C isotopic ratio, which is not the case for beet sugar also from a C₃ plant. Researchers at JRC, Geel have carried out a feasibility study using energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence as a screening tool to verify its authenticity. Mass fractions of P, Cl, S, K, Ca, Fe, Cu, Br, Rb, and Sr determined in eleven coconut, ten cane, and one beetroot sugar samples, purchased in Belgian, Spanish, Polish, and Italian supermarkets were used for discriminating the different sugars. On average, the mass fractions of all the mentioned elements were higher in coconut than in cane and beetroot sugars. Chemometric models constructed were characterised by zero false positives; three coconut sugars (27%) could not be classified as such, neither as cane sugars.

Read the full research paper

 The US demand for honey is roughly four times the amount produced by US beekeepers. Price differential between most imported honey and US produced honey indicates a vulnerability to adulteration, and beekeepers are working with Congress to appropriate more funds for U.S. Customs to test imported honey. To ensure consumers have confidence in US produced honey, a new certification scheme has been formed - GenuHoney.  To receive GenuHoney certification, beekeepers undergo a three-part authentication process: an unannounced, forensic audit of either the beekeeper or packer; random sample authenticity testing and brand authentication.

Read the article here

 The popularity of high value Chia and Quinoa "superfoods", makes them vulnerable to substitution and mislabelling. A real-time PCR (polymerase chain reaction)  (qPCR) method has been developed for the authentication of these two seeds.The developed method using chia- and quinoa specific primer-probe sets based on TaqMan technology was validated, and specificity, cross-reactivity, limit of detection, efficiency and robustness were determined. The method was successfully applied to twelve (chia) and seven (quinoa) commercial composite samples, indicating its suitability to authenticate these two foods.

Read the abstract here

Given the number of cases of fraud in the US organic agri-food sector, the USDA now proposes amending the Organic Regulations to strengthen oversight and enforcement of the production, handling, and sale of organic agricultural products. The proposed amendments are designed  to strengthen organic control systems, improve farm to market traceability, and provide robust enforcement of the USDA organic regulations. The USDA has issued a draft proposed rule, but the consultation period of 60 days will only begin when the proposed rule is published officially in the Federal Register. 

USDA News Release gives details of all the relevant documents, and how and where to send comments

Faster screening methods are becoming increasingly important to permit rapid analyses, and FT-NIR spectroscopy offers the possibility of such a method.  Validation of screening methods requiring the application of multivariate data treatment is less frequently described in literature, thus limiting their use as routine tools in control laboratories for food fraud monitoring. Guidelines for validating screening methods for EU Official Control Laboratories involving pesticide residues, GMOs, allergens mycotoxins etc., were issued in 2013. In this research, an  EU-validation procedure for screening methods was developed and successfully applied to a multivariate FT-NIR spectroscopic method for the screening of durum wheat pasta samples adulterated with common wheat at the screening target concentration of 3%.  The results obtained demonstrated that the validation approach would be a proof-of-strategy to be used for multivariate infrared methods applied for screening purposes. 

Read the abstract here

Isotopic methods have been recognised by CEN (European Committee for Standardisation) and in part by the OIV (Organisation Internationale de la vigne et du vin) as a means of detecting the non-permitted presence of exogenous acetic acid and water in vinegar (CEN) and specifically wine vinegar (OIV). The methods used are EN 16466-1 for D/H in the methyl site of acetic acid [(D/H)CH3] using 2H-SNIF-NMR (Site Specific Natural Isotope Fractionation-Nuclear Magnetic Resonance), EN 16466-2 and OIV 510/2013 for analysis of 13C/12C in acetic acid (δ13C ‰) using IRMS (Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry), and EN 16466-3 and OIV 511/2013 for analysis of 18O/16O in water (δ18O ‰) using IRMS.

An international collaborative trial has been undertaken in 7 laboratories to define standard deviations of repeatability (sr) and reproducibility (sR) for vinegar and balsamic vinegar stable isotope ratios of H (D/H), C (δ13C) and O (δ18O), in order to establish them as fully recognised official standards. The laboratories analysed two samples of wine vinegar, one cider vinegar, and four balsamic vinegars. The results of the trial are in line with those in the literature or reported in corresponding official methods, and sr and sR of balsamic vinegar are in line with those of vinegar and must.

Read the paper here

Milk has been a food involved with serious adulteration incidents in the past. In addition, where milk and milk-free products are manufactured and packed on the same lines, it is important to avoid cross contamination. With this in mind, SwissdeCode and Dutch microfluidics company DigiBio have joined together with the help of European Commission funding (€2.5m grant), and in collaboration with Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam in the Netherlands and EuroStars, an EU scheme to support new product development at small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) to develop and produce an automated detection platform - BEAMitup. BEAMitup combines a digital microfluidics platform that slots into the production line with DNA testing to give results on milk adulteration in 30 minutes without the need of technical or laboratory personnel.

Read the article here

This project aimed to develop and validate a multi-species proteomics screening tool for meat species verification in processed meat products. The method covers nine meat species: beef, pork, horse, goat, lamb, donkey, rabbit, chicken and turkey. The research has improved the original database of marker peptides for the nine animal species studied. The work has expanded previous research using high-resolution mass spectrometry to achieve detection of pork, horse, donkey, lamb, rabbit and chicken at 1% (w/w) adulteration levels. It has developed and validated a triple quadrupole mass spectrometry method suitable for simultaneous identification of the nine meat species in processed meat products. Beef, pork, horse and chicken products were used to carry out an intra-laboratory method validation.

Project FA0166 is in the Research Section of the website

Food Standards Scotland (FSS) has issued a Press Release highlighting to food and drink businesses in Scotland to be alert for potential food crime activity in their supply chains, as its Scottish Food Crime and Incidents Unit (SFCIU) is aware, via recent reports, that  COVID-19 circumstances has created a factor or motivation for food crime. It is, therefore, advising businesses to remain vigilant about their food supply chains, and recommends they refer to a joint guide, developed with the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health and the Food Standards Agency on improving fraud resilience for food and drink businesses. 

Read the FSS Press Release

 Five men have been arrested in connection with an investigation into how illegal horsemeat, which should have been destroyed, made its way into the food chain. The investigation, which began with raids in June 2019 in 7 locations over Ireland, is being conducted by the Gardaí along with the Department of Agriculture and The Food Safety Authority Ireland.

Read the two short press articles here and here

The season when tea is harvested, as well as the age of the tea can affect its quality, hence authenticating the season/age of high cost teas can be desirable. Chinese researchers have used trace elements and stable isotopes with chemometrics to characterise Pu'er tea according to its production year. Pu'er tea is prepared by drying green Chinese tea, then subjecting it to a microbiological fermentation by naturally occurring moulds, bacteria and yeasts. The tea is then pressed into a variety of shapes.

A total of 86 mineral elements and stable isotope compositions were determined from the Xiangzhujing Pu'er tea in five different production years. Different chemometric techniques were applied to find the best models to predict the production year.  Mn,⁶⁸Zn, and ²⁰³Tl were the best authenticity markers for enabling the successful authentication of Pu'er tea with different production years. 

Read the abstract here

 The Italian NAS Carabinieri of Florence (Arma dei Carabinieri), supported by Europol, have closed down a network of wine counterfeiters, selling online fake premium Italian wines. Law enforcement officers carried out raids in eight Italian provinces (Avellino, Barletta-Andria-Trani, Brescia, Como, Foggia, Pisa, Prato and Rome). Empty bottles of high quality wines were gathered from restaurants, and refilled with fake wine, then marketed on a big online auction platform. The wines were sold in Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United States, often ending in the glasses of unaware customers of wine bars and catering services. This action is part of operation OPSON IX. Europol’s Intellectual Property Crime Coordinated Coalition (IPC3) coordinated OPSON IX, facilitated the information exchange and provided technical and analytical support to the participating countries. Europol’s IPC3 is co-funded by the EUIPO (European Union Intellectual Property Office) to combat intellectual property crime.

Read Europol's Press Release

 The FSA's Chief Scientific Adviser, Prof Guy Poppy has published on 17 June his review of risk analysis, which began in 2018. Risk analysis is the process of estimating risks to human and/or animal health, identifying and implementing measures to control the risks, and communicating these risks and measures to relevant parties. It has three components: risk assessment, led by science and evidence; risk management, the consideration of management options available by policy officials; and risk  communication. When the UK leaves the EU on 1 January 2021, European legislation on food and feed safety will move into UK law to provide continuation of the rules. However, the FSA and FSS will be reponsible for the most of the risk analysis functions that were previously provided by EFSA. The report outlines the FSA's response to this future change:

1. A clearer separation between our risk assessment and risk management to ensure the scientific integrity of risk assessment;
2. An expanded role for our Scientific Advisory Committees (SACs), strengthened by recruiting additional experts and by establishing three new Joint  Expert Groups (JEGs);
3. A new UK process for authorising regulated products such as food and feed additives, enzymes, 3 flavourings, novel foods, GM food and feed.

The new approach to risk analysis will also include: 
• Developing food and feed safety standards and controls based on scientific evidence e.g. policies, guidance, controls and enforcement;
• Pre-market approvals and post-market reviews of regulated food and feed products;
• Risk-based import controls;
• Handling incidents and food crime.

Read the article here

Lard is a cheaper saturated fat than butter. A rapid method for its detection was developed using a portable Raman spectrometer combined with chemometrics. Samples of butter adulterated with different amounts of lard from 0-100% were prepared and their Raman spectra recorded. Chemometric analysis was applied for the classification and discrimination of butter and lard-adulterated samples, as well as the quantification of lard in butter samples. This method could be applied for in-situ analysis or quality control of butter samples.

Read the abstract here

The illegal practice of adding sucrose to milk has increased in recent years. Sucrose is used as an adulterant of reconstituted milk to increase the total solids content. This research developed the use of  FTIR spectroscopy in combination with multivariate chemometric modelling for the differentiation and quantification of sucrose in cow milk. Trial samples of sucrose adulterated milk from 0.5 - 7.5% were prepared and analysed by FTIR. Chemometric analysis was performed on the spectra, and partial least squares regression (PLS-R) showed the best prediction of adulteration with a detection level of 0.5% w/v sucrose adulteration. The method is simple, non-destructive, quick and needs minimal samples preparation. 

Read the abstract here

 Organic milk attracts a premium over conventionally produced milk. Reading University and other consortium partners have completed a European Horizon 2020 project using metabolomics and NMR technology on 1,900 samples of organic milk collected on farms and at retail in the UK and Finland, to develop a test to authenticate organic milk.  

Read the project leaflet here

 Demand for avocado oil is increasing in view of its nutritional value and health benefits. Researchers from the University of California have undertaken a study on  22 samples of avocado oil purchased locally or on-line, 5 of which were Californian, the rest were imported mainly from Mexico. The oils were tested for rancidity (peroxide value and free fatty acids), purity and composition (tocopherols and sterols). The results indicated that the majorityof the oils were oxidised before reaching the quality expiry date listed on the bottle. In addition, substitution with soybean oil at levels near 100% was confirmed in two “extra virgin” and one “refined” sample of avocado oil. The authors have called for need to develop standards for avocado oil to ensure consumer protection, and a level playing field in the global trade of avocado oil. 

Read the University of California News Release and the full paper.

 The EUIPO Status Report 2020 published this month, brings together its reporting work on intellectual property at EU and at global level. It also contains research on the volume of counterfeit and pirated goods in international trade, and the economic contribution of intellectual property-rights intensive industries to economic growth and jobs. According to a study carried out by EUIPO and the OECD in 2019, estimates of IPR infringement in international trade in 2016 could reach as much as 3.3 % of world trade. Hence, it is estimated that up to 6.8 % of EU imports, or EUR 121 billion per year, are fake goods.  In a series of sectorial studies, the EUIPO has estimated lost sales in 11 sectors in the EU (directly in the industries being analysed and across their associated supply chain), as a result of counterfeiting. These  losses totalled more than EUR 83 billion per year during the period 2013-2017. In addition, more than 671 000 jobs in legitimate businesses were lost, and the Member States lost EUR 15 billion per year in tax revenue.

A Joint Europol/EUIPO Poly-criminality Report also published in June, suggests that counterfeit goods increasingly being linked to the actions of organised criminal networks and other illegal activities such as drug trafficking, manslaughter, illegal arms possession, forced labour, food fraud, excise duty fraud, VAT fraud, corruption and money laundering.

Read the news article here

The BSI (British Standards Institute) Kitemark is already one of the most recognised symbols of quality and trust, offering value to consumers, businesses and procurement practices.To help food sector organisations improve consumers’ trust in their products, BSI now offers the Kitemark™ Food Assurance Programme. This reassures consumers and organisations about a specific characteristic of a product. It ensures a product is produced in compliance with key aspects of consumer expectation, from purity and origin to environmental and fair production practices.The new programme has formed a partnership with Fera, which will be part of the Kitemark programme development team and, when applicable, be responsible for the testing procedures to validate the product’s Kitemark claim.

More information on the Kitemark Food Assurance Progamme here

 Squalene is a triterpene, and tyrosol is a simple phenol. Both are found in relatively high amounts compared to other terpenes and phenols respectively in extra virgin olive oil, and are reduced significantly during refining to produce refined olive oil. Both squalene and tyrosol can be determined by hplc (high performance liquid chromatography) after extraction with 2-propanol or liquid-liquid extraction respectively. The feasability of this screening method was first tested on measuring the two markers in 10 commercial samples of EVOO, one commercial sample of virgin olive oil, 2 commercial samples of olive oil (a blend of extra virgin and refined olive oil), and 10 types of vegetable oils. In addition, the method was tested on 6 brands of blended oils (5 of which were 20% EVOO/80% sunflower oil, and one 30% EVOO/70% grapeseed oil). Further samples of olive oil using 50% EVOO, and blended oils with 20% EVOO were prepared. After determining squalene and tyrosol in all of the samples and plotting squaline on the y-axis, and tyrosol on th x-axis, there was discrimination between EVOO and all the other samples, and olive oil samples were differentiated from blended oils. Although this showed feasibility of the screening method, more samples at different concentrations of EVOO, and of virgin olive oil are required to find the sensitivity of the method.

Read the full paper here