Abstract

Does Vibrational Spectroscopy Have A Real Role In Food Authentication?

Gerard Downey, Professor, Teagasc Food Research Centre

Food authentication continues to be a pre-occupation of food processors, retailers, regulatory authorities and consumers alike. Vibrational spectroscopy (mid-infrared, near infrared and Raman) possess properties which commend their use in real-world analytical scenarios – speed, lack of any requirement for use of chemicals or highly-skilled operatives, non-destructive nature etc. They also suffer from some short-comings, especially when used as fingerprint methods. However, following a discussion of the nature of food authenticity problems and the recent trend to their consideration as food safety issues, some successful laboratory studies of analytical solutions for the detection of adulteration based on vibrational spectroscopy will be presented. These examples will serve to highlight both the practical advantages and the less-obvious obstacles in the way of their simple deployment to industry or regulatory bodies for enforcement purposes. Strategies to help solve these problems will be discussed in the light of new developments in this research field including database access and structure, novel chemometric tools and instrumentation miniaturisation.