News

The results of the EC 2021-2022 honey sampling and analysis co-ordinated action, following the  From the Hives report, were concerning.  This 2023 report concluded that all 10 of the sampled honeys imported from the UK were “suspicious”. 

This finding prompted further investigation by the UK Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).

Defra have now published an independent expert review into the analytical methods used in the survey.  There is a lot of technical content in the review.  It re-emphasises that no single honey authenticity test is likely to be definitive, and that a weight of evidence approach should be used with some tests being weighted higher than others.  When the total weight of evidence is not strong then phrasing such as “warrants further investigation” would be a fairer conclusion than “suspicious”.

One specific learning from the review is that laboratories must take care with the selection of authenticity markers, depending on the analytical question being asked.  The example given is oligosaccharides.  Some of these markers are known to vary between honey that has had moisture mechanically removed compared to honey that has not.  Moisture removal may be a production necessity (in humid climates where honey will not evaporate naturally) or a commercial choice to speed the harvest cycle (as is commonly used in China).  Moisture-removed honey is common within UK blends of Chinese origin honeys  but is not permitted in some EU countries.  Thus a test based on oligosaccharide markers could differentiate UK honey from EU for reasons that are already understood.  It might not provide any new insight, for example, on sugar or syrup adulteration.

Photo by Art Rachen on Unsplash

Meat species identification has always been a challenge in highly processed foods, such as gelatines and stocks.

One approach is to measure proteins and protein patterns using mass spectrometry (MS).  A previous research project, under the UK Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) Food Authenticity Programme, developed and in-house validated a method using proteomics.

That work has now been built upon by another 3 Defra projects to streamline the method to look for specific markers, in a format that can be used routinely by testing laboratories, and to fully validate the routine method including by interlaboratory trial.

All four research reports are now signposted on FAN’s Research pages.  Scroll through the table to find the appropriate report reference number:

• FA0166 – the original 2019 project – “Development, optimisation and validation of a non-targeted proteomics method for meat species identification”
• FA0165 – “Liquid chromatography targeted mass spectrometry method to determine the animal origin of gelatine - transfer to a high throughput, low cost platform with single lab evaluation”
• FA0177 – “Gelatine species determination, completion of method validation and determination of a quantitative method”
• FA0187 – “Interlaboratory trial of a mass spectrometry method for meat species determination”

The UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is running a campaign to recruit three new members to the Food Authenticity Methodology Working Group (AMWG). 

Applications are welcomed from any candidate who has the knowledge, skills and experience required for the role and who meets the essential criteria. More information about the role can be found in the Candidate Pack. The deadline for applications is 12 noon on Friday 15^th November 2024.

Information about the vacancies is given below: 

 The AMWG is a non-statutory expert committee of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). The Committee provides expert advice on research carried out under Defra’s Food Authenticity Programme and is accountable to the Agri-Food Science Team within Defra’s Agri-Food Chain Directorate.  

The Chairs of expert committees meet annually with Defra’s Chief Scientific Advisor; and provide an annual summary of the work of the Committee to the Science Advisory Council (SAC) for Defra's Annual Report.     

Defra wants to attract high-calibre and forward-thinking applicants from diverse backgrounds to its expert committees. Applicants will need to demonstrate they are able to carry out a full range of non-executive responsibilities and have relevant skills, knowledge and expertise. Defra is seeking to appoint up to three new members to AMWG to cover the broad range of expertise required.  

Applications will be assessed against the following general essential criteria: 

• Experience in dealing with complex technical authenticity challenges, recognised expertise in food analysis and an understanding of fitness for purpose requirements and validation concepts for authenticity methods. 
• Demonstrable collaborative working and a willingness to enhance the UKs standing in the field of authenticity testing as well as the ability to understand and value different perspectives and to build productive relationships both within and outside the Committee.  
• Ability to think analytically and creatively and to contribute effectively to the formulation of sound scientific-based advice and decisions.   
• Ability to express views cogently and clearly, to represent views to the Committee and the Committee’s views to Government and other stakeholders.  

In addition to the above general food authenticity expertise and skills, we are seeking new members who have a good understanding or experience of at least one of the following:  

• Physical and chemical methods in particular spectroscopic and screening methods   
• Food Industry experience, supply chain assurance and traceability  
• AI/digital technology  
• Molecular Biology and Genetic technologies   
• A qualified Public Analyst with experience of Food analysis in a legal setting.    

 If you have any queries by email AMWGSecretariat@defra.gov.uk.  

The modern food industry is a rapidly evolving sector with complex supply chains that utilises a wide variety of analytical tools to support food integrity and authenticity.

Next Generation Sequencing (NGS)-based approaches represent an emerging analytical technology that is growing within the food sector, providing  the potential to not only screen and test input materials, but also the production process and end products. 

Photo by Braňo on Unsplash

This questionnaire is part of a UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) funded project tasked with reviewing the application of NGS technology to food authenticity testing and supporting harmonisation and the development of standards for NGS approaches applicable to the verification of food authenticity. The questionnaire is targeted at individuals involved in the food and associated diagnostics sectors, including technology developers, suppliers and official controls.

Your participation in this questionnaire will directly help inform the direction of the project and contribute to guidance within the sector.

Please do not provide any information that could be used to identify you. Thank you for participating in our questionnaire which should only take around 15 minutes to complete. Your feedback is important.

Access questionnaire.

UK National Measurement Laboratory at LGC

The United Kingdom Food Security Report (UKFSR) sets out an analysis of statistical data relating to food security by examining past, current, and predicted relevant trends to present the best available understanding of food security.

The UK Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) published the first UKFSR on 16 December 2021 and is now planning the production of the next UKFSR, which will be published in the second half of 2024.

Defra is currently seeking users' views on the content of the 2024 UKFSR.

As with the 2021 report, the next report will cover 5 themes:

• Theme 1: Global availability
• Theme 2: UK food supply sources
• Theme 3: Supply chain resilience
• Theme 4: Food security at household level
• Theme 5: Food safety and consumer confidence.

Please help Defra to improve the next report by answering a few short questions on these themes, and the report as a whole, by 15 December 2023: Access Defra questionnaire.

Thank you!

The Government Chemist and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs have published a sampling protocol for the collection of honey reference samples.

This protocol, the first of its kind in the world, defines a practical and pragmatic process for obtaining reference samples at different points in the honey supply chain, and specifies what associated records, documents and other considerations are necessary for a sample to be deemed acceptable for inclusion in a honey authenticity database.

The protocol is also available through the Defra website and has been added to the 'Guides' tab of the 'Tools_Guides_Reports' part of our 'Food Fraud Prevention' section of our website.

In response to many questions posted in the chat of the Webinar on the Global Honey Supply Chain that took place on 19 January 2022, the page on the Government Chemist website has been updated with work in progress on honey authenticity:

"This webinar and the consequent e-seminar is part of a suite of activities Defra, FSA, FSS and the Government Chemist are jointly working on to address some of the underpinning scientific issues that have emerged on the subject of honey testing and a number of workstreams are in progress.

Two further e-seminars, which will assist in disseminating information on honey authenticity testing, are in production. These cover using NMR testing for the determination of exogenous sugars in honey and best practice in establishing and curating databases for food authenticity. Work is also underway to develop guidance on applying a weight of evidence approach for food authenticity analysis, to pilot accreditation of non-targeted authenticity testing methods, to improve consistency and confidence in testing and reporting and to explore a data trust framework to share information on the honey supply chain and testing between interested communities. This will be followed by activity to standardise a protocol for the collection of authentic honey samples and to establish a framework for the scrutiny of authenticity databases. We are collaborating with key stakeholders on all these initiatives to secure the best outcome for all.

FSA’s blog on the complexities of honey authenticity, includes links to the recently published Government Chemist independent review of methods for honey authenticity testing and of the analytical reports underpinning recent allegations of honey fraud."

Foreword by the Government Chemist

Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) is a powerful tool for rapidly and cost-effectively identifying and characterising plant, animal and microbial species present in mixed food samples.

The application of NGS to food authenticity, adulteration and safety testing is a constantly evolving field with its own unique set of challenges that need to be explored. Further work needs to be conducted to better understand the performance characteristics and establish relevant performance criteria and metrics, to enable results generated in different laboratories to be compared and interpreted with equal confidence.

Following concerns raised from food industry members on the use of NGS for the quantitative determination of food ingredients, the Government Chemist engaged with Defra’s Authenticity Methodology Working Group (AMWG) [1] and its Technical Sub-Group (AMWG-TSG), resulting in the AMWG producing a view [2] on the use of NGS for food authenticity testing [3].

Download Defra’s Authenticity Methodology Working Group’s view on the use of Next Generation Sequencing for food authenticity testing

[1] An independent expert group that provides scientific and technical advice to support Defra’s food authenticity programme.

[2] The views/opinions expressed by AMWG were correct at the time of the note (November 2020).

[3] Government Chemist representatives: Selvarani Elahi, Deputy Government Chemist, is the Chair of AMWG and Dr Malcolm Burns, Head of GMO unit, Principal Scientist and Special Advisor to the Government Chemist, is a Member of AMWG; they both participated in the AMWG-TSG meeting on NGS and subsequent discussions, inputting into the AMWG view on NGS.

Genome editing, also known as gene editing, is one of the precision breeding techniques in food that may be adopted by the government after EU Exit. Therefore DEFRA have run a public consultation on genetic technologies in food (Opens in a new window).

This research by the Food Standards Agency complements the consultation by gathering evidence specifically on consumer interests. For more information about genome editing in food, view our FSA Explains video.

Key findings  

• Consumers tended to have very low awareness and very low knowledge of GE food.
• More informed consumers were, or became, more accepting of GE food.
• Consumers tended to find GE food more acceptable than GM food. However, consumers found GM or GE applied to plants more acceptable than applications to animals, for example, due to human safety and animal welfare concerns.
• Most consumers felt it would be appropriate to regulate GE foods separately from GM foods. At the same time, many felt regulation should be just as thorough as for GM.
• Most consumers felt labelling should always inform the consumer of the presence of GE ingredients using the full term ‘genome edited’.  
• Overall, consumers wanted thorough regulation and transparent labelling if GE foods reach the UK market, and they suggested social media information campaigns and TV documentaries would help educate the public on GE food. 

Download report and appendices.

The modern food industry is fast moving with complex supply chains that utilises a wide variety of analytical tools to support food integrity and authenticity. Devices that allow diagnostic tests to be performed at or near the point of need, often termed Point-of-contact (POC), represent a growing area within the food sector with the potential to provide real-time monitoring of input materials and the production process. POC devices can range from handheld spectroscopic devices such as Raman and FT-IR instruments to desktop portable systems such as compact mass spectrometry and NMR systems.

A questionnaire looking at POC testing in the food sector has been devised by LGC as part of a Defra funded project (FA0178: Point of Contact Testing) tasked with investigating the application of POC technology to food authenticity testing. The questionnaire is targeted at individuals involved in the food and associated diagnostics sectors, including primary production, supply and manufacturing.

The project team would greatly appreciate your participation in this questionnaire, which will directly help inform the direction of the project and contribute to guidance within the sector.

POC Questionnaire: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/J8L8N3X

We thank you in advance for your assistance and kindly request that the survey is completed by Friday 31st July 2020.

Kind regards

Food Authenticity Network Executive Management Team

European standardisation in the field of food and feed contributes to improving levels of food safety and protecting the health of consumers. CEN (European Committee for Standardization) provides validated test methods that are used by the food industry and by the competent public authorities for official control purposes and by food- and feed-producing companies for internal checks. 

Food authenticity was identified as a new area of interest and a Technical Committee was established to standardise methods in this area. At its first meeting in 2019, this committee established a series of working groups (WG) within which methods would be standardised:

WG1:   Concepts, terms and definitions

WG2:   Species analyses using DNA-based methods

WG3:   Coffee and coffee products

WG4:   NMR analysis

WG5:   Stable Isotope Analysis

WG6:   Validation concepts of non-targeted methods

It has just been announced that the UK has been voted to lead on Working Group 1 (concepts, terms and definitions):

Dr James Donarski from Fera Science Ltd will be the Convener and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs will provide the Secretariat function.

The development of a common language for concepts, terms and definitions associated with food authenticity is important to securing the integrity of food and mitigating food fraud, facilitating international trade.

The FSA has today published guidance to assist food businesses in responding to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.

The new guidance has been developed with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and covers a range of areas including good hygiene practice, management of employee sickness, and social distancing for specific food business settings.

It is very unlikely that people can catch COVID-19 from food. COVID-19 is a respiratory illness and not known to be transmitted by exposure to food or food packaging.

The FSA is working with the food industry to ensure that businesses know what their responsibilities are and what actions they need to take to maintain safety standards and protect staff during the outbreak.

The guidance can be found on GOV.UK

Although the process for application to become a Centre of Expertise is open throughout the year, the UK Government has taken a decision to announce a formal call for new applications once a year.

If you think your laboratory can fulfil the AMWG criteria for a Centre of Expertise then please complete a self-assessment evidence proforma, providing evidence of your capabilities, and return to CoE@foodauthenticity.uk by 31 March 2020.

Your application will be processed and discussed with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), and you will be notified of the outcome by the end of May 2020.

Benefits of being a Food Authenticity Centre of Expertise

• Recognition of your organisation’s food authenticity testing expertise
• Posters of Centres of Expertise are placed on the Food Authenticity Network website
• Centres of Expertise are featured in Food Authenticity Network newsletters
• Centres of Expertise have the opportunity to:
  • Potentially contribute to the resolution of future incidents of national / international importance
  • Support UK food authenticity testing capability by offering analysts advice
  • Work with the Food Authenticity Network & its members (>1,500 members from 67 different countries / territories and in 2019, >12,000 users accessed the website)
  • Work with other Food Authenticity Centres of Expertise.

Background

Following the Elliott review in 2013-14, the UK Government set up the Food Authenticity Network to help bring those involved in food authenticity testing together in a more coordinated way. The Network raises awareness of the range of methods / techniques used to check for mislabelling and food fraud and to ensure that the UK has access to a resilient network of laboratories providing fit for purpose testing to check for food authenticity so that ultimately, consumers can have greater confidence in the food they buy.

Recognising that no one organisation will be equipped with all the necessary expertise in all methods / techniques used in food authenticity testing, and across all of the food commodities, Professor Elliot’s review also proposed the creation of “Centres of Excellence” to cover the different disciplines and techniques involved.

The UK Government’s Authenticity Methods Working Group (AMWG) produced a number of criteria which outlined the type of qualities an organisation offering a particular expertise might be expected to demonstrate to become a ‘Centre of Expertise’. There is an expectation that such organisations should be prepared to engage with and offer support to others in their areas of expertise both within the Network and more widely if required.

In 2015, the UK Government invited organisations working in the food authenticity testing field to consider if they had the expertise, capability and experience expected of a Centre of Expertise and through this process, acknowledged fourteen organisations as Food Authenticity Centres of Expertise.