Abstract

The Fight Against Food Fraud: The Analytical Tool Box

Simon Kelly, Laboratory Manager, University of East Anglia

Consumers have always shown an interest in where their food comes from, how it is produced and the level of quality of a product. This interest has been heightened by relatively recent events such as melamine in milk powder and horsemeat scandals. Equally, there is an interest in the composition of livestock feed, not least of all for health reasons. Both consumers and producers are interested in learning more about the ingredients on the market. Regulations are continually being put in place to try to protect the consumer and scientific techniques are required to keep pace with the plethora of ingredient and production claims that now accompany many of the foods on sale in the retail market. In this presentation I aim to give an overview of a range analytical techniques that have been advocated as providing a means to independently verify: Geographic origin of foods Species origin of meats, fish and food additives Quality of food ingredients (e.g. natural versus synthetic) Organic versus conventional production This presentation introduces some of the latest Isotopic, spectroscopic and metabolomic tools developed to inform stakeholders regarding the authenticity of foods and to help protect against food fraud.