For many years the Joint FAO/IAEA Center of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture has had a remit and active programme to build analytical testing capacity in Low & Middle Income Countries; in effect, test capacity to support food safety. This specifically includes stable-isotope techniques to check food authenticity. They offer laboratory training programmes and workshops, both in their laboratory in Austria and at the recipient laboratories.
The IAEA have posted a summary of stable-isotope applications here, along with their remit and scope
- Supporting UN Member States in the use of nuclear and complementary techniques for science-based solutions to improve food safety, food authenticity, and security, as well as sustainable agricultural practices.
- Developing nuclear technologies to improve the safety and quality of food products, tracking the origin of food products and checking their authenticity.
- Supporting UN Member States in improving their laboratory and regulatory capacity to trade safe and high-quality food products and verify their authenticity using stable isotope measurements.
- Gathering best practices and providing guidance on the use of nuclear techniques for the verification of origin of food products.
- Conducting Coordinated Research Projects (CRP), focusing on the use of nuclear and complementary techniques, for instance, the identification of food fraud or products with high-value labelling claims.
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