Food adulteration and authenticity compendium

Food authenticity and adulteration testing has taken on a new level of importance with consumers and producers, after recent food adulteration scandals…

Food fraud negatively impacts consumer confidence and, more importantly, some adulteration can be harmful to health. Herbs and spices are one of the most commonly adulterated commodity products, with a prime example being oregano adulterated with olive and myrtle leaves.

Infrared (IR) spectroscopy is well recognised for the characterisation of a wide range of materials and has advanced significantly over the last few decades. This fast and cost-effective technique, when combined with a spectral library, can provide conclusive information about samples, and is ideally suited to both qualitative analysis of materials and quantification of components. Historically, IR instruments were generally quite large, required clean environments, and highly trained operators for interpretation of results. Advancements in sampling techniques, data analysis tools, ruggedness, and instrument portability have allowed easy analysis of a broad range of samples within a range of environmental settings.