An efficient and low-cost approach to detecting food fraud

Date:
October 11, 2021
Source:
University of Basel
Summary:
Fraudulent practices in food production, especially false claims of
geographical origin, cause billions of dollars in economic damage
every year. Botanists have now developed a model that can be used
to determine the origin of food in an efficient and low-cost manner.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Fraudulent practices in food production, especially false claims of geographical origin, cause billions of dollars in economic damage
every year.

Botanists at the University of Basel have now developed a model that
can be used to determine the origin of food in an efficient and low-cost manner.


========================================================================== Strawberries from Switzerland or olive oil from Italy can be sold at
much higher prices than the same products from other countries. Both the authorities and the food industry spend a great deal of time fighting
false declarations of geographical origin that are assumed to cause an estimated USD 30 million to 40 billion a year in economic damage.

One method for detecting food fraud is to determine the d18O (delta-O-18)
value of a product sample, which characterizes the oxygen isotope
ratio. Until now, this procedure has been highly time consuming and
costly. A case of suspected fraud involved not only collecting reference
data from the claimed country of origin, but also comparative data from
other regions to validate or disprove the product's origin.

Cutting costs through model calculation Basel botanist Dr. Florian
Cueni has now developed a model in collaboration with Agroisolab GmbH,
a company specializing in isotope analysis. This model is intended for
use in simulating the oxygen isotope ratio in plants from individual
regions, thereby eliminating the need for the time-consuming collection
of reference data. The model is based on temperature, precipitation
and humidity data and information about the growing season of a plant,
all of which are available from publicly accessible databases.

Cueni tested and validated the model on a unique d18O reference dataset
for strawberries collected across Europe over 11 years. The case study
has shown that the model can simulate the origin of the strawberries
with a high degree of accuracy.

Wide range of uses "With minor adjustments to the parameters, our model
can be used to determine all plant products," says Professor Ansgar
Kahmen, who led the research project. This makes it possible to simplify
and speed up conventional isotope analysis by accurately simulating the
regions of origin of agricultural foodstuffs.

The model developed by the Basel botanists is of interest to food
forensics officials or the investigating authorities when it comes to the origin of confiscated drugs, for example, as well as to private forensic institutes that inspect food or serve as expert witnesses in court. NGOs
such as WWF or Greenpeace are also interested -- especially with regard
to determining the origin of illegally logged timber -- as is the food industry, which suffers reputational damage due to the sale of products
that may have been falsely declared.

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_Basel. Note: Content
may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Florian Cueni, Daniel B. Nelson, Markus Boner, Ansgar Kahmen. Using
plant
physiological stable oxygen isotope models to counter food fraud.

Scientific Reports, 2021; 11 (1) DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-96722-9 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/10/211011091321.htm

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