The UK Food Standards Agency has published a report (available here – free to download) that reviews analytical methods to verify Country of Origin labelling of food and feed. It covers Stable Isotope Ratio Analysis, trace element profiling, metabolomics profiling, genomics, proteomics and emerging techniques. The review included a full literature review alongside structured interviews with stakeholders.
Each section of the review concentrates on a type of analytical technique and draws together the reports on commodities which have been analysed using that technique. A critique of the techniques is given together with recommendations on their capability and limitations. An outlook section for each technique provides insight for future development potential together with a summary of the most mature methods which demonstrate capability to verify origin for various food commodities. The most promising techniques are listed for each food commodity. Fish and shellfish are identified as a particular gap where there is no obvious analytical technique to address the challenge.
The report also discusses other verification solutions such as digital traceability systems.
A link to the report has been indexed in FAN's research pages.
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