A recent US article drawing consumer attention to food adulteration issues says that "The food you’re placing in your grocery cart may not be exactly what it says it is."
Examples given include spices, olive oil, honey seafood, fruit juices and Parmesan cheese.
A new meat species authentication method designed for Halal food verification has been developed by scientists at the University of Münster, using a SCIEX QTRAP® 6500 LC-MS/MS system. BusinessWire reports that the method that can detect multiple species simultaneously.
The Food and Drink Federation have welcomed the creation and launch of the UK's new Virtual Food Authenticity Network, and have committed to support their members in the food authenticity testing they undertake. They have also produced a best practice Food Authenticity Guide. The announcement can be found on the FDF website.
A recent survey undertaken by professor Chris Elliott on behalf of Which? magazine has found that a quarter of 78 samples labelled as oregano contained other ingredients, in some cases forming up to 70% of the product.
Site members can also find a new member discussion on this issue on the site's discussion pages.
A recent article at FoodQualityNews.com reports on the outcome of a series of webinars, and comments on the increased vlunerability to fraud arising from the globalised food supply chain. See the article, Complex and globalized food supply increases vulnerability to fraud, for details.
A food and drink research firm has been chosen by the UK government to carry out authenticity. Authenticity testing is necessary to identify cases of fraud where olive oil is adulterated with inferior quality oils or other vegetable oils. See the Olive Oil Times article for more information.
A trial site based on the Ning social platform opened on 29 April. The complete IT solution is intended to provide the following features:
The trial site will be open for up to two weeks in the first instance. If successful, it may form the basis for the live site.
