Food authenticity

A dramatic peak in reported cases of pine mouth or pine nut syndrome (PNS) was observed in Europe and in the United States of America in 2008e2012. The PNS symptoms involve a constant bitter and/or metallic taste that appear 1e2 days after ingestion and disappear within 5e14 days. The chemical compound responsible for the symptoms is unknown, but symptoms are related to ingestion of pine nuts from the species Pinus armandii. P. armandii used industrially for non-food purposes has entered the food chain through mislabeling. Consequently, species determination of pine nuts has gained focus in governmental control of food authenticity. In this study, a PCR primer design targeted conserved DNA sequences that span an area of variation between P. armandii and other relevant species. Principal component analysis (PCA) of high-resolution melting curves from PCR amplicons was used to cluster pine species from reference material, and to determine the species of unknown samples. The PCA successfully clustered 2 subspecies/varieties of P. armandii, Pinus bungeana, Pinus massoniana, Pinus pinea, and Pinus wallichiana. Pinus koraiensis/Pinus pumila and Pinus sibirica/Pinus cembra had identical PCR amplicons, respectively, and formed 2 distinct clusters. 12 pine nuts from 4 unknown samples were analyzed. 10 pine nuts clustered together with P. armandii and P. koraiensis/P. pumila. 2 pine nuts were not part of clusters, but probabilities suggested P. armandii, and P. sibirica/P. cembra. These determined species were comparable to external results obtained elsewhere.

In recent years, interest in meat authenticity has increased.Many consumers are concerned about the meat they eat and accurate labelling is important to inform consumer choice. Authentication methods can be categorised
into the areas where fraud is most likely to occur: meat origin,meat substitution, meat processing treatment and
non-meat ingredient addition. Within each area the possibilities for fraud can be subcategorised as follows: meat
origin—sex, meat cuts, breed, feed intake, slaughter age, wild versus farmed meat, organic versus conventional
meat, and geographic origin; meat substitution—meat species, fat, and protein; meat processing treatment—
irradiation, fresh versus thawed meat and meat preparation; non-meat ingredient addition—additives and water.
Analytical methods used in authentication are as diverse as the authentication problems, and include a diverse
range of equipment and techniques. This review is intended to provide an overview of the possible analytical
methods available for meat and meat products authentication. In areas where no authentication methods have been published, possible strategies are suggested.

“Food adulteration” is a very common issue to the society and its harmful effects on health are the vital reason for the mortality and morbidity in the developing countries. The most common adulterant foods are milk, infant formula, meat, fish, honey, ghee, spices, tea, coffee, wine, sugar, grains, wheat etc. Food adulteration may be of intentional, incidental or by contamination with foreign substances such as metals. There are lots of health hazards seen with the food adulteration starting from infant to the older people such as various stomach disorder, small intestine problems, nausea, vomiting, food poisoning, cardiac disorder, kidney problems, liver problems, appendicitis, delay in brain development in case of children and carcinogenic effects etc. Before we eat any kind of food, we must know its quality, authenticity and nutritional value whether, it is obtained from natural sources, processed or semi-processed one. The objective of this article is focused on the review of food adulterants and their hazardous effects on our health. Care must be taken in every step to prevent from adulteration i.e. from cultivation land, processing of food in the industry, transport, proper storage or preservation of food to the kitchen, catering service or at restaurants level. People make adulteration intentionally mainly for the making of profit and these adulterants not only cause GIT disorders but also some poisonous or carcinogenic effects. Thus, consumers should aware of this and some serious safety measures must be taken care to prevent the unnecessary death due to food borne diseases.

This work characterises volatile floral source descriptors for a variety of Australian unifloral honeys. The chemical analysis of naturally occurring honey volatiles is useful for authenticating the floral source of Australian honeys for domestic and overseas markets. Further, the floral and geographic origin of honey will need to be supplied by Australian honey exporters competing in the lucrative European market. With the European market, honey labelling now has to include information that shows the floral and geographical origin of the product, particularly if it is labelled as floral. Chemical fingerprinting of these volatiles has potential application to the authentication of the botanical source, which is of increasing commercial importance to the Australian honey industry in quality assurance programs.

This methodology was successfully applied to both Eucalyptus and non-Eucalyptus honey samples. Also, the components responsible for the strong, distinctive aroma and flavour of Australian honeys were identified. These, together with taste flavour compounds such as organic acids, make up the fiiU flavour of honey. In addition, high boiling semivolatiles are included in the flavour profile of honey. Floral source marker compounds for high quality unifloral (or 'straightline') samples of 11 floral types of Australian high quality species-specific or 'straightline' samples of floral honey have been identified using the volatile fraction. This flavour profile of volatile compounds represents a distinctive 'fingerprint' of the honey that can authenticate the floral source of the honey.

The three-step Floral Certification Test which has been developed involves firstly a solvent extraction of volatiles from honey, followed by their detection and quantification using gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Finally, multivariate statistical analysis of the chemical data is performed. This methodology is applicable to any honey throughout the world once an initial survey is done on the composition of its volatile fraction. These procedures have permitted the identification of numerous compounds, including norisoprenoids, monoterpenes, benzene derivatives, aliphatic compounds, and Maillard reaction products. The characterisation of these volatiles is, therefore, of interest in the search for possible floral source descriptors for 11 floral types of Australian honey. The honeys studied were the eucalypt floral types, red gum, yapunyah, pilliga box, Caley's ironbark, spotted gum, and bloodwood; and the non-eucalypt floral types, crows ash, jelly bush, heath, tea tree and brush box.

The six eucalypt floral types of honey examined [red gum (E. camaldulensis), yapunyah (E. ochrophloia), pilliga box (E. pilligaenis), Caley's ironbark (E. caleyi), spotted gum (E. maculata) and bloodwood (E. intermedia)] were subjected to principal components analysis (PCA). A total of 21 variables (volatiles/groups of volatiles) were selected for these floral types of honey and analysed with corresponding published data on two eucalypt floral types of honey [yellow box (Eucalyptus melliodora) and blue gum (E. leucoxylon)]. These variables represent a diverse range of compound categories. In conclusion, it will be possible in the fiiture to authenticate these eight eucalypt floral types of honey using this methodology and the accimiulated chemical data summarised above, which will support quality assurance programs in the honey industry.

A total of five non-eucalypt floral types of honey were analysed. Each was considered separately with respect to the floral source descriptor volatiles and PCA of collected GC data. Crow ash (Guioa semiglauca) honey has some similarities to leatherwood honey, particularly related to monoterpene levels and variety.

Jelly bush (Leptospermum sp.) honey has some similarities to the New Zealand Leptospermum honeys, manuka and kanuka honeys. For jelly bush honey, GC analysis was able to distinguish between non-peroxide biologically active and inactive samples. The main distinguishing feature in the GC fingerprint of unmethylated extracts of active samples was a very large broad peak that elutes early and is absent in unmethylated extracts of inactive samples. When quantification of this compound(s) was combined with that for the other floral source descriptors, o-anisic acid (2-methoxybenzoic acid), dehydrovomifoliol, methyl syringate, and combined meso- and levo-butane-2,3-diols, and PCA of the data was undertaken, it is possible to authenticate non-peroxide active jelly bush honey samples from non-peroxide inactive ones.

For heath (Banksia ericifolia) honey and tea tee (Melaleuca quinguenervia) honey, there were similarities in the composition of volatiles. Floral source descriptors for these two floral types of honey were identified. Benzene derivatives were well represented amongst the volatiles floral source descriptors for these two honey types.

The final non-eucalypt honey studied in detail was brush box (Lophostemon conferta) honey. The composition of the volatile fraction of samples of this floral type was variable. Some unusual C9 and C10 norisoprenoids characterise this variety from other types.

In conclusion, this project has developed a rapid chemical procedure (Floral Certification Test based on 'chemical fingerprinting') for authenticating the floral origin of samples of species-specific floral types of Australian honey. The large amount of accumulated chemical data will support authenticity testing of floral Australian honeys in the future, as part of quality assurance programs of the Australian honey industry.

Il turismo archeologico della post-modernità: shopping e autenticità
1. L’outlet dell’antico: mobilità, shopping e turismo.
Castel Romano Outlet tra turismo, shopping e archeologia
2. I super-Mercati di Traiano
3. Vini e profumi: turismo archeologico nell’età dello shopping.
Pompei e il vino Villa dei Misteri

Food authenticity has been the subject of the earliest food laws in the United Kingdom to prevent adulteration leading to poisoning as well as fraud. Today, although ill effects from food are more likely to be due to micro-organisms combined with poor manufacturing and handling procedures, consumers demanding premium quality foods are much more aware of their legal rights to obtain goods of the correct description. This awareness is also much more common now with caterers and food manufacturers who are introducing quality management systems which specify agreed contents and compositions for raw and processed food materials. This paper discusses the authenticity problems which food service operators can face, the procedures used in the UK to quantify the scope and importance of these problems, the methods used to detect them for a range of foods and the practical steps which can be used in the industry to maintain the consumer’s confidence.

This PhD thesis is the product of practice-based research in which I used reflexive documentary filmmaking—along with reflection on and theorization of that practice—to engage with issues of authenticity and mediation in documentary. I confront a particular conundrum that has enduring resonance for documentary scholars and filmmakers: How do we reconcile claims and expectations of authenticity in documentary with the fact of mediation? My work puts this fundamental documentary dilemma into a new context and offers a different way of engaging with it—experientially and from a unique perspective. I explored this dilemma in practice through the process of making a documentary film, and I sought insight from those who also deal with issues of authenticity and mediation but in a completely different context—in the foreign national restaurant in London. The resulting film Eating Cultures—the practice component of this thesis—constructs a relationship between the meal in the restaurant and the documentary film based around the metaphors of “eating cultures” and “mediating worlds”. The written thesis then contextualizes and reflects on the practice and develops these themes—considering the documentary dilemma within the broader contemporary context of cultural globalization, making new cross-disciplinary connections with tourism and food studies scholarship, further articulating and theorizing the metaphors of “eating cultures” and “mediating worlds”, and finally suggesting additional cross-disciplinary relevance within cultural cosmopolitanism scholarship.

Table olives, the number one consumed fermented food in Europe, are widely consumed as they contain many valuable ingredients for health. It is also a food which may be the subject of adulteration, as many different olive varieties with different geographical origin, exist all over the word. In the present study, the image analysis of stones of six main Greek protected designation of origin (PDO) table olive varieties was performed for the control of their authentication and discrimination, with cv. Prasines Chalkidikis, cv. Kalamata Olive, cv. Konservolia Stylidas, cv. Konservolia Amfissis, cv. Throuba Thassos and cv. Throuba Chios being the studied olive varieties. Orthogonal partial least square discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) was used for discrimination and classification of the six Greek table olive varieties. With a 98.33% of varietal discrimination, the OPLS-DA model proved to be an efficient tool to authentify table olive varieties from their morphological characteristics.

Table olives, the number one consumed fermented food in Europe, are widely consumed as they contain many valuable ingredients for health. It is also a food which may be the subject of adulteration, as many different olive varieties with different geographical origin, exist all over the word. In the present study, the image analysis of stones of six main Greek protected designation of origin (PDO) table olive varieties was performed for the control of their authentication and discrimination, with cv. Prasines Chalkidikis, cv. Kalamata Olive, cv. Konservolia Stylidas, cv. Konservolia Amfissis, cv. Throuba Thassos and cv. Throuba Chios being the studied olive varieties. Orthogonal partial least square discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) was used for discrimination and classification of the six Greek table olive varieties. With a 98.33% of varietal discrimination, the OPLS-DA model proved to be an efficient tool to authentify table olive varieties from their morphological characteristics.

Table olives, the number one consumed fermented food in Europe, are widely consumed as they contain many valuable ingredients for health. It is also a food which may be the subject of adulteration, as many different olive varieties with different geographical origin, exist all over the word. In the present study, the image analysis of stones of six main Greek protected designation of origin (PDO) table olive varieties was performed for the control of their authentication and discrimination, with cv. Prasines Chalkidikis, cv. Kalamata Olive, cv. Konservolia Stylidas, cv. Konservolia Amfissis, cv. Throuba Thassos and cv. Throuba Chios being the studied olive varieties. Orthogonal partial least square discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) was used for discrimination and classification of the six Greek table olive varieties. With a 98.33% of varietal discrimination, the OPLS-DA model proved to be an efficient tool to authentify table olive varieties from their morphological characteristics.

This research paper describes the potential of synchronous fluorescence (SF) spectroscopy for authentication of buffalo milk, a favourable raw material in the production of some premium dairy products. Buffalo milk is subjected to fraudulent activities like many other high priced foodstuffs. The current methods widely used for the detection of adulteration of buffalo milk have various disadvantages making them unattractive for routine analysis. Thus, the aim of the present study was to assess the potential of SF spectroscopy in combination with multivariate methods for rapid discrimination between buffalo and cow milk and detection of the adulteration of buffalo
milk with cow milk. SF spectra of cow and buffalo milk samples were recorded between 400– 550 nm excitation range with Δλ of 10–100 nm, in steps of 10 nm. The data obtained for Δλ = 10 nm were utilised to classify the samples using principal component analysis (PCA), and detect the adulteration level of buffalo milk with cow milk using partial least square (PLS) methods. Successful discrimination of samples and detection of adulteration of buffalo milk with limit of detection value (LOD) of 6% are achieved with the models having root mean square error of calibration (RMSEC) and the root mean square error of cross-validation (RMSECV) and root mean square error of prediction (RMSEP) values of 2, 7, and 4%, respectively. The results reveal the potential of SF spectroscopy for rapid authentication of buffalo milk.

Salmon and herring from the Baltic Sea are prohibited for sale for human consumption in the European
Union or only allowed to be marketed under certain conditions. Fish from certain specific geographical
origins also command higher prices in the market than fish from elsewhere. It is, therefore, important to
be able to enforce correct labeling of geographical origin through authentication. One authentication
strategy is to examine trace markers specific for a geographical origin. The chemical contaminants
polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs)
were released inhomogeneously into the environment for many years and may therefore be suitable as
markers. This study comprises PCBs and PCDD/Fs analyses of 79 samples of salmon originating from
Canada, Chile, China, Norway, USA, Vietnam, and the Baltic Sea near Denmark, all sampled from 2002
through 2015. Principal component analyses (PCA) were built from the combined PCB and PCDD/F profile
as well as separately from the individual PCB and PCDD/F profiles. Use of the PCB profile for the PCA
provided stronger power to distinguish between salmon of different geographical origin than using the
PCDD/F profile or the combined profiles.

When are two chemically identical compounds not the same? Is it possible to determine the geographic point of origin of seized cocaine? Can one unravel recent geographic movement of a terrorist suspect? Do matchsticks match and are all white paints just that? These are just some of the questions forensic scientists are increasingly confronted with to support intelligence led policing and to help achieve secure convictions. This book shows how stable isotope signatures may be able to answer these questions and will be essential reading for students of forensic science and anlytical chemistry as well as forensic scientists, police officers, defence and prosecution practitioners and the judiciary.

This book provides the first comprehensive, overview and guide to forensic isotope analysis, an exciting new application of stable isotope analytical techniques.  Topics are introduced using examples and real-life case studies such as food quality control where isotope analysis has already had a major impact, in terms of consumer protection, These examples illustrate the underlying principles of isotope profiling or fingerprinting.  A section comprising actual criminal case work is used to build a bridge between the introduction and the technical section to encourage students to engage with this novel departure for analytical sciences while at the same time providing hands-on examples for the experienced researcher and forensic practitioner to match problems and success stories encountered with the topics discussed in the technical section.

What little information is available on the subject in book form so far, has been published as individual chapters in books dealing either with mass spectrometry, forensic geoscience or environmental forensics, this is the first book to focus on the entire spectrum of forensic isotope analysis and will be an invaluable reference to both researchers in the field and forensic practitioners.

This chapter explores issues of authenticity in relation to acarajé, a street-snack from Brazil. It draws on interviews with producers, consumers and enthusiasts of acarajé  so as to describe how history, space, time and temporality are activated to make this cultural product seem "authentic." It focuses on place, age, gender and the aesthetics of the "banca" as central ingredients of authenticity. It also compares issues of authenticity around acarajé (Bahia) and àkárá (West Africa), by exploring the triangulated encounters between Africa, Brazil and Portugal. The chapter comments on the role of the myth of the three races in the production of a narrative of authenticity in canonical cookbooks that include entries on acaraje'. Finally, it provides the acarajé classic recipe, as well as a glossary of key terms.

Table olives, the number one consumed fermented food in Europe, are widely consumed as they contain many valuable ingredients for health. It is also a food which may be the subject of adulteration, as many different olive varieties with different geographical origin, exist all over the word. In the present study, the image analysis of stones of six main Greek protected designation of origin (PDO) table olive varieties was performed for the control of their authentication and discrimination, with cv. Prasines Chalkidikis, cv. Kalamata Olive, cv. Konservolia Stylidas, cv. Konservolia Amfissis, cv. Throuba Thassos and cv. Throuba Chios being the studied olive varieties. Orthogonal partial least square discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) was used for discrimination and classification of the six Greek table olive varieties. With a 98.33% of varietal discrimination, the OPLS-DA model proved to be an efficient tool to authentify table olive varieties from their morphological characteristics.

Table olives, the number one consumed fermented food in Europe, are widely consumed as they contain many valuable ingredients for health. It is also a food which may be the subject of adulteration, as many different olive varieties with different geographical origin, exist all over the word. In the present study, the image analysis of stones of six main Greek protected designation of origin (PDO) table olive varieties was performed for the control of their authentication and discrimination, with cv. Prasines Chalkidikis, cv. Kalamata Olive, cv. Konservolia Stylidas, cv. Konservolia Amfissis, cv. Throuba Thassos and cv. Throuba Chios being the studied olive varieties. Orthogonal partial least square discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) was used for discrimination and classification of the six Greek table olive varieties. With a 98.33% of varietal discrimination, the OPLS-DA model proved to be an efficient tool to authentify table olive varieties from their morphological characteristics.

Styrian Pumpkin Seed Oil is a premium single seed vegetable oil that is uniquely linked to the geographic region of Styria where it is grown and produced.  In 1996, the strong regional ties of this typical Styrian speciality were recognised by the EU-Commission who declared "Styrian Pumpkin Seed Oil P.G.I." as a Protected Geographical Indication (article 5 VO(EWG) Nr. 2081/92).  In 1998, more than 2,000 domestic pumpkin seed producers and 30 oil mills formed an association of Styrian pumpkin seed oil producers, which is now called the "Gemeinschaft Steirisches Kürbiskernöl g.g.A.".  This producers’ association was formed in order to protect the regionality and the high quality of Styrian Pumpkin Seed Oil P.G.I.  Procedures implemented by this producers’ association document every step in the process from pumpkin seeds to seed crushing in oil mills and finally bottling of Styrian Pumpkin Seed Oil P.G.I., keeping a contiguous record of all production steps including annual harvest amounts.  This permits full traceability of every bottle of Styrian Pumpkin Seed Oil P.G.I from harvest to the finished, bottled products found on the shelf of delis and even supermarkets.
Despite these efforts of the producers’ association, there have been repeated claims of g.g.A. (P.G.I.) certified bottles of Styrian Pumpkin Seed Oil (PSO) having been analysed independently and shown to contain either mixtures of Styrian and non-Styrian PSO or no Styrian PSO at all.  Since keeping records of annual harvest amounts of pumpkin seeds would make it very difficult for an “over-production” by mixing or substitution of alien PSO’s to go unnoticed, we formed the hypothesis that the red-flagged bottles could have been counterfeits containing alien PSO with bottles sporting fake g.g.A. seals and fake serial numbers.  An alternative hypothesis was that the chosen method of detection of allegedly misrepresented g.g.A. Styrian PSO resulted in a high number of false negatives thus incorrectly rejecting genuine Styrian PSO as alien PSO and mixtures of Styrian PSO with alien PSO.
To investigate the potential of multivariate stable isotope analysis as a means to correctly distinguish between genuine Syrian PSOs and other PSOs, we purchased 10 + 1 PSOs (10 different brands) from high-street and on-line shops.  Samples were given alpha-numerical sample IDs and were analysed in a single-blinded fashion.  Based on 2H, 13C and 18O abundance values alone sensitivity and specificity were 1.00 (4 true positives; 0 false negative) and 0.71 (5 true negatives; 2 false positives), respectively.
However, when combining stable isotope data with trace element data, specificity increased to 1.00 with no false positives being detected.  Chemometric statistical analysis clearly separated the 3 g.g.A. certified Styrian PSOs from all but one other PSO, which was also a genuine Styrian PSO in as much as it was pressed from genuine Styrian pumpkin seeds though not by a Styrian oil mill thus not qualifying for the g.g.A. seal.
Geophysical Research Abstracts, 15, EGU2013-2255.

Sex determination of beef is important to meet the rules of the Commission Regulation (EC) 765/2002 that qualify for export refunds. A SYBR Green sex identification assay based on melting curve analysis of PCR amplicons from the amelogenin locus (AMELX and AMELY) was developed. The PCR amplicons of 130/130 and 130/67 base pairs produced from female and male beef, respectively, are easily distinguished by both melting curve analysis and gel electrophoresis. Results from the melting curve analysis of amplicons are ready in less than three minutes, and requires no additional work in addition to the PCR setup. Applicability of the sex determination assay was studied by analysis of 12 unknown beef samples and the results were compared to an accredited method based on gel electro-phoresis. In addition, six different cattle breeds were examined. All test results were correct in respect to sex.