News

The Royal Society of Chemistry has published a book on 'DNA Techniques to Verify Food Authenticity'                       (https://doi.org/10.1039/9781788016025), which includes a chapter (number 26) on the Food Authenticity Network.

 About the book:

The food supply chain needs to reassure consumers and businesses about the safety and standards of food. Global estimates of the cost of food fraud to economies run into billions of dollars hence a huge surge in interest in food authenticity and means of detecting and preventing food fraud and food crime. Approaches targeting DNA markers have assumed a pre-eminence.

This book is the most comprehensive and timely collection of material from those working at the forefront of DNA techniques applied to food authenticity. Addressing the new field of analytical molecular biology as it combines the quality assurance rigour of analytical chemistry with DNA techniques, it introduces the science behind DNA as a target analyte, its extraction, amplification, detection and quantitation as applied to the detection of food fraud and food crime. 

Making the link with traditional forensic DNA profiling and describing emerging and cutting-edge techniques such as next generation sequencing, this book presents real-world case studies from a wide perspective including from analytical service providers, industry, enforcement agencies and academics.  It will appeal to food testing laboratories worldwide, who are just starting to use these techniques and students of molecular biology, food science and food integrity. Food policy professionals and regulatory organisations who will be using these techniques to back up legislation and regulation will find the text invaluable. Those in the food industry in regulatory and technical roles will want to have this book on their desks.

Author information:

The editors possess unrivalled expertise and are keen to describe and foster advances in the key area of DNA techniques applied to food authenticity. Dr Lucy Foster is an experienced food scientist, and head of food research including authenticity research at Defra, for many years commissioning studies of global reach. Dr Malcolm Burns is an internationally recognised molecular biologist and expert in DNA quantitation. Dr Michael Walker was a founder board member of the Food Standards Agency, a subject matter expert to the Elliott Review, is Head of the Office of the Government Chemist, and, with a thriving consulting practice, is an experienced expert witness.

This research by the University of Michigan addressed some of the global need for clarification and harmonisation of commonly used terminology such as food fraud, food authenticity, food integrity, food protection, economically motivated adulteration, food crime, food security, contaminant, adulterant, and others.One hundred and fifty survey responses were received from various food-related workgroups or committee members, communication with recognised experts, and announcements to the food industry in general. The food quality and manufacturing respondents focused mainly on incoming goods and adulterant-substances (<50%) rather than the other illegal activities such as counterfeiting, theft, grey market/diversion, and smuggling. Of the terms included to represent “intentional deception for economic gain” the respondents generally agreed with food fraud as the preferred term. Overall, the preference was 50% “food fraud,” 15% “economically motivated adulteration” EMA, 9% “food protection,” 7% “food integrity,” 5% “food authenticity,” and 2% “food crime.” It appears that “food protection” and “food integrity” are terms that cover broader concepts such as all types of intentional acts and even possibly food safety or food quality. “Food authenticity” was defined with the phrase “to ensure” so seemed to be identified as an “attribute” that helped define fraudulent acts.

Read the full paper here

Danish researchers have published a review of the wide range of analytical methods, which aim to quantify meat species in meat products and their limits of detection (LOD). The review attempts to address in particular, the problems associated with a correlation from quantitative DNA based results to meat content (w/w). The aim is to make researchers aware of the problems of expressing DNA results as meat content (w/w) in order to find better alternatives. 

 Read the full paper

Adulteration is a growing food safety concern worldwide. Previous studies have implicated turmeric as a source of lead (Pb) exposure due to the addition of lead chromate (PbCrO4), a yellow pigment used to enhance brightness. This study aimed to assess the practice of adding yellow pigments to turmeric and producer- consumer- and regulatory-factors affecting this practice across the supply chain in Bangladesh.

Nine major turmeric-producing districts of Bangladesh, as well as two districts with minimal turmeric production, were identified and visited. In each district, semi-structured interviews were conducted and informal observations were made with individuals involved in the production, consumption, and regulation of turmeric. Perceptions of and preferences for turmeric quality.

Samples of yellow pigments and turmeric were collected from the most-frequented wholesale and retail markets. Samples were analysed for Pb and chromium (Cr) concentrations via inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry and x-ray fluorescence.

The study found evidence of PbCrO4-based yellow pigment adulteration in 7 of the 9 major turmeric-producing districts.

Turmeric wholesalers reported that the practice of adding yellow pigments to dried turmeric root during polishing began more than 30 years ago and continues today, primarily driven by consumer preferences for colourful yellow curries.

The results from this study indicate that PbCrO4 is being added to turmeric by polishers, who are unaware of its neurotoxic effects, in order to satisfy wholesalers who are driven by consumer demand for yellow roots. The study recommends immediate intervention that engages turmeric producers and consumers to address this public health crisis and ensure a future with Pb-free turmeric.

Read full publication.

This review by Polish researchers looks at the most recent advances in proteomic LC-MS (Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry) methods to identify meat species in processed meat products. The review looks at both low and high resolution LC-MS applied to the identification and detection of heat‐stable species‐specific peptide markers. In the case of myofibrillar and sarcoplasmic proteins, LC-MS/MS was able to detect 105 heat stable peptides in processed meat, and in thermally processed samples, myosin, myoglobin, hemoglobin, l‐lactase dehydrogenase A and β‐enolase are the main protein sources of heat‐stable markers. 

  Read the abstract here

The need for more rapid on-site testing for authenticity has prompted Chinese researchers to develop a novel biosensor. This multiple-use trident-like lateral flow biosensor based on species-specific TM-LAMP (tag-labeled multiplex loop-mediated isothermal amplification) permitted sensitive and specific horse and donkey identification. Primers were produced for the endogenous chromosomal reference genes for horse and donkey, which were selected bioinformatically, and the lateral flow biosensor was established using an antigen tag-labeled multiplex LAMP. After optimisation, the biosensor could specifically detect as little as 15 copies of the horse and donkey gene fragments, which took only 40 minutes for the whole process without the need for any additional precision instruments. This platform could be easily adapted for other meat species by using the appropriate primers.

 Read the abstract here

Given the problems of the US organic market and USDA's difficulties to police it effectively, two new initiatives are taking place, which should bring substantial changes. Firstly, an independent investigation unit - OrganicEye (part on the not for profit group Beyond Pesticides) has been formed to provide a resource for the organic farming community and their customers, and hold the USDA to account. Secondly, the USDA is about to publish a new organic enforcement rule, which should have an impact on organic regulations both in the US market and abroad and improve enforcement. Hopefully these two initiatives will help to reduce organic fraud in the US market.

 Read the articles on OrganicEye and the USDA enforcement rule

JRC has published its monthly summary which in this edition covers two months in the summer - July and August, Some  of the stories have been covered  in the website's News items, but there are some new ones including olive oil fraud in the Brazilian market and substitution of avocados by a bright green squash in Mexico.

Read the Summary here

The FSA collects annual data from Local Authorities (LAs) in England, Northern Ireland and Wales on food law enforcement in food establishments, and has published the report of data collected between April 2018 to end March 2019. Data are collected using the web-based LA Enforcement Monitoring System (LAEMS), and cover food hygiene (microbiological quality and contamination) and food standards (labelling, composition, chemical contamination and adulturation). For food standards controls, which cover authenticity and food fraud, the percentage of planned interventions decreased to 40.8 percent from 42.3 percent in the previous year. Even more significant, the number of food standards based analyses fell by 25% because of the lower number of food standards samples taken. LAs have commented that this decrease reflects the trend of an intelligence-led approach to food standards enforcement, concentrating on the higher risk premises. This approach is putting pressure on public analyst laboratories (official control laboratories) and the Worcester PA Laboratory will close at the end of 2019. 

Read the article here or the full FSA report

Chinese researchers have developed a multiplex PCR assay using universal primers based on mitochondrial DNA to identify 8 species (dog, chicken, cattle, pig, horse, donkey, fox, and rabbit) simultaneously in meat products. The assay was tested on 103 commercial meat products from the Chinese market, which demonstrated its effectiveness and applicability.

 Read the abstract here

Researchers in China and Canada have developed a  a highly specific and robust method to identify donkey meat that coupled a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with lateral flow immunoassay (LFI). Donkey-specific PCR primers were designed by targeting the mitochondrial D-loop gene, and their specificity was verified in silico and in vitro against 22 species involved in meat authentication. The PCR-LFI assay gave a limit of detection as low as 0.001% w/w (raw) and 0.01% w/w (cooked) donkey meat in beef. The LFI strip-based visualisation of PCR products allowed for a 10-fold higher sensitivity than conventional gel electrophoresis, and significantly reduced the analysis time for the post-PCR analysis. This PCR-LFI is highly suitable for rapid identification of donkey or incorporation into multiplex screening protocol for other meat authentication. 

 Read the full RSC research paper

In response to recent reports on food tampering in supermarkets, the FDA has reminded industry that its guidance offers advice and recommendations on a range of preventive measures for retailers and food service establishments to minimise the risk of food tampering or other malicious, criminal, or terrorist actions. The guidance updated in 2007 deals with recommended actions in the following areas, management, staff, the public, physical facitlities, and operational actions. 

 Read the New Food article or the full FDA guidance

Rachel Gullaksen, Sean Daly and Malcolm Burns (from left to right) looking at multispectral imaging applications for food authenticity

The Food Standards Agency’s National Food Crime Unit (NFCU) aims to help protect businesses and consumers from fraudulent supply chains through building relationships with industry, delivering crime prevention initiatives and conducting thorough, proportionate investigations where necessary. This is to support the Food Standard Agency to deliver its overarching strategy that “food is safe and is what it says it is”.

Following an increase to its budget, the NFCU has seen significant extension of the unit’s capabilities and remit in terms of its investigation and crime disruption capabilities and the prevention of food crime. As part of its outreach programme and as a follow-up to a meeting between Darren Davies, Head of the NFCU and the Government Chemist, Julian Braybrook and Selvarani Elahi in May 2019, colleagues from the NFCU visited LGC.

Selvarani Elahi gave a presentation on the Food Authenticity Network, highlighting the benefits of closer collaboration between this growing global network and the NFCU, both of which were created by the UK government to address the recommendations of the Elliott Review.

NFCU colleagues were taken on a tour of LGC’s National Measurement Laboratories where LGC staff demonstrated research on a range of technologies from point-of-use screening to confirmatory methods capable of combating food crime or food fraud .

The Food Authenticity Network turned four in July 2019 and looking back to when it was first established on 14 July 2015, we could not have imagined that in four short years and with relatively modest funding, we could have grown to a membership of over 1,130* from 58 countries / territories and a Twitter following of over 1,548. The website has also achieved a Google PageRank score of number 1 for a search on the term ‘food authenticity’ and the equivalent on Twitter.

In case you missed it, Issue 10 of the Food Authenticity Network Newsletter was published in July and contains news from the Network, three interesting articles and a further Centre of Expertise profile:
•News from CEN on Food Authenticity
•Increased activities of the Food Standard Agency’s National Food Crime Unit.
•Application of Artificial Intelligence and smart phone to authenticate food in situ.
•Achievements of the EU Project FoodIntegrity project.
•Centre of Expertise profile from Minerva Scientific

Download your copy here.

*Google Analytics shows that the website is actually being accessed by ~8,000 unique users annually.

There is a potential for adulteration of emulsion-type sausages with porcine blood plasma because of its low cost, high protein and functional properties. A proteomic method for the detection of porcine blood plasma has been developed by German researchers. After a rapid protein extraction and tryptic digestion, species-specific marker peptides for porcine blood cell proteins (four markers) and plasma proteins (12 markers) were measured by UHPLC-MS/MS. The method was tested on sausages prepared from a variety of pork raw materials spiked with 0.5-5% meat substitution with porcine blood plasma powder, and subjected to different thermal treatments. The 4 plasma peptides were identified as markers for porcine blood plasma addition, and the method could detect down to 0.7% meat substitution, with a 5% error probability for both false positives and negatives.

 Read the abstract here

Pasteurised whole egg is the most commonly marketed egg product used by the food industry for the manufacture of bakery products, ice cream, fresh and dried pasta. The use of incubator-reject eggs (IRE) is not allowed under European legislation for the preparation of egg products. However, some producers fraudulently use them for whole egg products manufacture. Italian researchers studied the effectiveness of European legislative indices (β-hydroxybutyric acid and lactic acid), uracil, furosine and organic acids for IRE detection in egg products. The results show that present European legislative thresholds for β-hydroxybutyric acid and lactic acid should be lowered to effectively detect IRE's in egg products. The addition of uracil to the indices is suggested as a future additional legal parameter, and considered as a warning signal that IRE may be present. 

 Read the abstract here

Dutch RTL News broadcaster have analysed reports from both Government inspectors and Organic inspectors published between 2015 and 2018. These show some 68 companies selling food labelled as organic, which does not meet the required standards. Of these, 10 companies are thought to have committed quite serious fraud offences. Only one of these cases is being looked at by the Public Prosecution Department. RTL News reported in May, that hundreds of products are being sold in Dutch shops as organic, but which actually come from farms which have broken the rules on animal welfare, the use of medicines and the environment. Calls from farmers for a 'get-tough approach' from government inspectors are likely to go unheard and a spokesman for the NVWA (Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority) told RTL that it does not have enough staff to tackle all the fraud involving organic food. Priority, therefore, is given to cases which have implications for food safety.

 Read the article here

Jill Hoffman, McCormick &Co, gave the keynote address at the APAC (Asia- Pacific) Food Safety Conference 2019 in Sydney. She outlined the breadth of work carried out by food safety and quality professionals. However, when considering the emerging risks companies are facing, then food authenticity, fraud and sustainability should also be included in the increasing number of risks companies have to take into account. Therefore, these need to be dealt with by building a food integrity culture.

 Read the article here  

Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) is frequently adulterated with olive pomace oil and other vegetable oils. Although various official chemical methods are available for the detection of common adulterants in EVOO, these methods are laborious, time-consuming, and employ toxic chemicals. Thus, researchers have been exploring more rapid and accurate analytical techniques to detect and quantify adulteration in EVOO, and this review is focused on summarising the methods developed in the past few years. The review examines chromatographic, spectroscopic, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), DNA analysis and digital imaging approaches to detecting adulteration. The review concludes that the currently used official methods should be upgraded as they are reported to be less sensitive than these latest methods.  

 Read the abstract of the review here

This research is by the same French team, who reported using elemental strontium and strontium isotopes as markers for geographic origin and authenticity of Bordeaux wines, which was reported as a 27 April 2019 News item. In this research, lead (Pb) concentrations and Pb isotope ratios of 43 authentic Bordeaux wines from prestigious châteaux and 14 suspicious Bordeaux origin were determined to evaluate their potential as markers for authenticity and geographical origin. Total Pb concentrations in Bordeaux wines have drastically decreased over the past 50 years corresponding to changes in environmental lead concentrations with a clear shift of isotopic signatures towards geological values. The Pb isotopic ratios determined in both sets of samples clearly demonstrated that the suspicious Bordeaux wines displayed Pb isotopic signatures statistically distinctive from those obtained for authentic Bordeaux wines. Three isotopic ratio signatures using the geological and environmental Pb isotopes data that characterise European and Asian sources were used to give a non-ambiguous discrimination between authentic Pauillac AOC and the counterfeit wines.   

 Read the abstract here