This page has only limited features, please log in for full access.
Food fraud is the intentional deception carried out for gain, and is growing. Rice is the most used and the staple cereal for more than half of the world. Because of the scale of the global rice industry, the opportunities for fraud are large, of concern and threat to the economies and health of many. This review ouylines the complexities of the global rice industry and outlines current frauds. Fraudulent actions can be on many levels such as: botanical and geographical origin, adulteration/substitution, ageing, cultivation practices, aroma/flavour and amounts of microelements. To deal with new rice frauds, the range of techniques to detect them is increasing. Current research concerning rice fraud is mainly focussed on rice authenticity testing for botanical/geographical origin or cultivation methods. In the case of Mass Specrometry, more advanced techniques are increasingly applied due to their great untargeted analysis power. Spectroscopic techniques can mainly provide screening, but rapid and non-destructive sample analysis, they are cost effective and once established require little expertise. DNA assays are excellent tools to apply for authenticity testing of botanical origin of rice. There is at present, no single analytical tool capable of providing an answer to all rice authentication problems, thus it is necessary to use several approaches in profiling and identification of possible markers and/or adulterants.
Magdalena Śliwińska-Bartel; D. Thorburn Burns; Christopher Elliott. Rice fraud a global problem: A review of analytical tools to detect species, country of origin and adulterations. Trends in Food Science & Technology 2021, 116, 36 -46.
AMA StyleMagdalena Śliwińska-Bartel, D. Thorburn Burns, Christopher Elliott. Rice fraud a global problem: A review of analytical tools to detect species, country of origin and adulterations. Trends in Food Science & Technology. 2021; 116 ():36-46.
Chicago/Turabian StyleMagdalena Śliwińska-Bartel; D. Thorburn Burns; Christopher Elliott. 2021. "Rice fraud a global problem: A review of analytical tools to detect species, country of origin and adulterations." Trends in Food Science & Technology 116, no. : 36-46.
Standard methods for chemical food safety testing in official laboratories rely largely on liquid or gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry. Although these methods are considered the gold standard for quantitative confirmatory analysis, they require sampling, transferring the samples to a central laboratory to be tested by highly trained personnel, and the use of expensive equipment. Therefore, there is an increasing demand for portable and handheld devices to provide rapid, efficient, and on-site screening of food contaminants. Recent technological advancements in the field include smartphone-based, microfluidic chip-based, and paper-based devices integrated with electrochemical and optical biosensing platforms. Furthermore, the potential application of portable mass spectrometers in food testing might bring the confirmatory analysis from the laboratory to the field in the future. Although such systems open new promising possibilities for portable food testing, few of these devices are commercially available. To understand why barriers remain, portable food analyzers reported in the literature over the last ten years were reviewed. To this end, the analytical performance of these devices and the extent they match the World Health Organization benchmark for diagnostic tests, i.e., the Affordable, Sensitive, Specific, User-friendly, Rapid and Robust, Equipment-free, and Deliverable to end-users (ASSURED) criteria, was evaluated critically. A five-star scoring system was used to assess their potential to be implemented as food safety testing systems. The main findings highlight the need for concentrated efforts towards combining the best features of different technologies, to bridge technological gaps and meet commercialization requirements.
Safiye Jafari; Julian Guercetti; Ariadni Geballa-Koukoula; Aristeidis Tsagkaris; Joost Nelis; M.-Pilar Marco; J.-Pablo Salvador; Arjen Gerssen; Jana Hajslova; Chris Elliott; Katrina Campbell; Davide Migliorelli; Loïc Burr; Silvia Generelli; Michel Nielen; Shana Sturla. ASSURED Point-of-Need Food Safety Screening: A Critical Assessment of Portable Food Analyzers. Foods 2021, 10, 1399 .
AMA StyleSafiye Jafari, Julian Guercetti, Ariadni Geballa-Koukoula, Aristeidis Tsagkaris, Joost Nelis, M.-Pilar Marco, J.-Pablo Salvador, Arjen Gerssen, Jana Hajslova, Chris Elliott, Katrina Campbell, Davide Migliorelli, Loïc Burr, Silvia Generelli, Michel Nielen, Shana Sturla. ASSURED Point-of-Need Food Safety Screening: A Critical Assessment of Portable Food Analyzers. Foods. 2021; 10 (6):1399.
Chicago/Turabian StyleSafiye Jafari; Julian Guercetti; Ariadni Geballa-Koukoula; Aristeidis Tsagkaris; Joost Nelis; M.-Pilar Marco; J.-Pablo Salvador; Arjen Gerssen; Jana Hajslova; Chris Elliott; Katrina Campbell; Davide Migliorelli; Loïc Burr; Silvia Generelli; Michel Nielen; Shana Sturla. 2021. "ASSURED Point-of-Need Food Safety Screening: A Critical Assessment of Portable Food Analyzers." Foods 10, no. 6: 1399.
Fungal contamination of agricultural commodities, particularly by mycotoxigenic fungi, represents an enormous concern for global food security in terms of feeding the world's growing population with sufficient and safe food. Not only do they reduce crop yield and quality, but they also produce substantial numbers of mycotoxins, which pose serious adverse health effects in human and animals. As the genome of most mycotoxigenic species have been sequenced, the gene clusters involved in the biosynthesis of agriculturally important mycotoxins including aflatoxins, fumonisins, ochratoxins, zearalenone and trichothecenes, have been largely identified and characterised, with their roles elucidated by researchers. This review provides a comprehensive overview of the current knowledge of genes involved in the biosynthetic pathways of mycotoxins. In addition, the influence of climatic factors including water, temperature and carbon dioxide on differential mycotoxin gene expressions have been highlighted. Overall, the relationship between the relative expression of key regulatory and structural genes under different environmental conditions is significantly correlated with mycotoxins production. This indicates that mycotoxin gene induction can be used as a reliable indicator or marker to monitor mycotoxin production pre-and-post harvest. Furthermore, current strategies to manage mycotoxin risks still require improvement. Thus, an accurate understanding of the molecular mechanisms of mycotoxin biosynthesis in mycotoxigenic species could help to develop an innovative, robust targeted control strategy. This could include the exploitation of novel compounds, which can inhibit biosynthetic genes, to minimise mycotoxin risks.
Oluwatobi Kolawole; Julie Meneely; Awanwee Petchkongkaew; Christopher Elliott. A review of mycotoxin biosynthetic pathways: associated genes and their expressions under the influence of climatic factors. Fungal Biology Reviews 2021, 37, 8 -26.
AMA StyleOluwatobi Kolawole, Julie Meneely, Awanwee Petchkongkaew, Christopher Elliott. A review of mycotoxin biosynthetic pathways: associated genes and their expressions under the influence of climatic factors. Fungal Biology Reviews. 2021; 37 ():8-26.
Chicago/Turabian StyleOluwatobi Kolawole; Julie Meneely; Awanwee Petchkongkaew; Christopher Elliott. 2021. "A review of mycotoxin biosynthetic pathways: associated genes and their expressions under the influence of climatic factors." Fungal Biology Reviews 37, no. : 8-26.
The performance of three near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) instruments was compared through the investigation of coriander seed authenticity. The Thermo Fisher iS50 NIRS benchtop instrument, the portable Ocean Insights Flame-NIR and the Consumer Physics handheld SCiO device were assessed in conjunction with chemometric modelling in order to determine their predictive capabilities and use as quantitative tools through regression analysis. Two hundred authentic coriander seed samples and ninety adulterated samples were analysed on each device. Prediction models were developed and validated using SIMCA 15 chemometric software. All instruments correctly predicted 100% of the adulterated samples. The best models resulted in correct predictions of 100%, 98.5% and 95.6% for authentic coriander samples using spectra from the iS50, Flame-NIR and SCiO, respectively. The development of regression models highlighted the limitations of the Flame-NIR and SCiO for quantitative analysis, compared to the iS50. However, the results indicate their use as screening tools for on-site analysis of food, at various stages of the food supply chain.
Claire McVey; Una Gordon; Simon Haughey; Christopher Elliott. Assessment of the Analytical Performance of Three Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Instruments (Benchtop, Handheld and Portable) through the Investigation of Coriander Seed Authenticity. Foods 2021, 10, 956 .
AMA StyleClaire McVey, Una Gordon, Simon Haughey, Christopher Elliott. Assessment of the Analytical Performance of Three Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Instruments (Benchtop, Handheld and Portable) through the Investigation of Coriander Seed Authenticity. Foods. 2021; 10 (5):956.
Chicago/Turabian StyleClaire McVey; Una Gordon; Simon Haughey; Christopher Elliott. 2021. "Assessment of the Analytical Performance of Three Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Instruments (Benchtop, Handheld and Portable) through the Investigation of Coriander Seed Authenticity." Foods 10, no. 5: 956.
The natural co-occurrence of 42 mycotoxins was investigated in unprocessed oat grains grown in Ireland. The sample set included a total of 208 oat crops harvested during 2015–2016 and produced using conventional, organic, or gluten free farming systems. A range of different toxins was identified, including the major type A (neosolaniol, HT-2 and T-2 toxins, T-2 triol, and T-2-glucoside, co-occurring in 21 samples) and B trichothecenes (deoxynivalenol, nivalenol, and deoxynivalenol-3-glucoside), enniatins (B1, B, and A1, co-occurring in 12 samples), as well as beauvericin, alternariol, mycophenolic acid, and sterigmatocystin. The influences of sowing season, year, and production system were investigated, eventually indicating that the latter factor may have a higher impact than others on the production of certain mycotoxins in oats. The most frequently quantified compounds were HT-2 (51%) and T-2 (41%) toxins, with gluten free oats containing significantly lower concentrations of HT-2 compared to conventionally produced oats. Although the prevalence and concentrations of mycotoxin found in oat samples in this study should be substantially reduced by processing. However, as mycotoxin occurrence is clearly influenced by multiple factors, controlled field trials should be carried out to define optimal agronomic practices and mitigate mycotoxin production. Furthermore, this work highlights the need for regularly testing cereal-based foods with multi-residue analytical methods with wider specificities than the traditionally screened and regulated toxins, to generate knowledge on the occurrence of several mycotoxins that are, to date, rarely investigated.
Lorenzo De Colli; Karl De Ruyck; Mohamed Abdallah; John Finnan; Ewen Mullins; Steven Kildea; John Spink; Christopher Elliott; Martin Danaher. Natural Co-Occurrence of Multiple Mycotoxins in Unprocessed Oats Grown in Ireland with Various Production Systems. Toxins 2021, 13, 188 .
AMA StyleLorenzo De Colli, Karl De Ruyck, Mohamed Abdallah, John Finnan, Ewen Mullins, Steven Kildea, John Spink, Christopher Elliott, Martin Danaher. Natural Co-Occurrence of Multiple Mycotoxins in Unprocessed Oats Grown in Ireland with Various Production Systems. Toxins. 2021; 13 (3):188.
Chicago/Turabian StyleLorenzo De Colli; Karl De Ruyck; Mohamed Abdallah; John Finnan; Ewen Mullins; Steven Kildea; John Spink; Christopher Elliott; Martin Danaher. 2021. "Natural Co-Occurrence of Multiple Mycotoxins in Unprocessed Oats Grown in Ireland with Various Production Systems." Toxins 13, no. 3: 188.
The beef industry faces numerous diverse challenges concerning the integrity of their products due to increasingly complex global food supply chains. Specified plans which focus on managing the risks associated with food fraud are lacking but needed to prevent and mitigate threats to the beef supply. Before these plans can be developed, an understanding of threats to the beef industry and their associated risks is needed. Mixed methodologies were used to identify threats and the associated risks. A review of five different databases, and reports on the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) portal, were used to identify the threats in the beef supply chain. Subsequently survey stakeholders (n = 50) ranked these threats on criteria to assess their probability and their severity and determine risk. This research has identified 24 types of food fraud in beef, referred to as beef crimes. To analyse and prioritize these crimes a Beef Crime Risk Assessment Tool (BCRAT) was developed to assess the risk each beef crime poses to the beef industry. Results showed that ‘illegal veterinary drugs and growth promoters' posed the greatest perceived commercial risk to the beef industry while fraud related to the ‘breed’ and ‘category’ of cattle posed the least perceived commercial risk. This research can be exploited to build food fraud prevention and mitigation plans for the beef industry.
Kelsey Robson; Moira Dean; Simon A. Haughey; Christopher T. Elliott. The identification of beef crimes and the creation of a bespoke beef crimes risk assessment tool. Food Control 2021, 126, 107980 .
AMA StyleKelsey Robson, Moira Dean, Simon A. Haughey, Christopher T. Elliott. The identification of beef crimes and the creation of a bespoke beef crimes risk assessment tool. Food Control. 2021; 126 ():107980.
Chicago/Turabian StyleKelsey Robson; Moira Dean; Simon A. Haughey; Christopher T. Elliott. 2021. "The identification of beef crimes and the creation of a bespoke beef crimes risk assessment tool." Food Control 126, no. : 107980.
Di Wu; Christopher Elliott; Yongning Wu. Food Safety Strategies: The One Health Approach to Global Challenges and China’s Actions. China CDC Weekly 2021, 3, 507 -513.
AMA StyleDi Wu, Christopher Elliott, Yongning Wu. Food Safety Strategies: The One Health Approach to Global Challenges and China’s Actions. China CDC Weekly. 2021; 3 (24):507-513.
Chicago/Turabian StyleDi Wu; Christopher Elliott; Yongning Wu. 2021. "Food Safety Strategies: The One Health Approach to Global Challenges and China’s Actions." China CDC Weekly 3, no. 24: 507-513.
COVID-19 has led to dramatic societal changes. Differing movement restrictions across countries have affected changes in consumers’ food practices, with a potentially detrimental impact on their health and food systems. To investigate this, this research explored changes in consumers’ food practices during the initial COVID-19 phase and assessed the impact of location on these changes. A sample of 2360 adults from three continents (Island of Ireland (IOI), Great Britain (GB), United States (USA), and New Zealand (NZ)) were recruited for a cross-sectional online survey (May–June 2020). Participants completed questions in relation to their cooking and food practices, diet quality, and COVID-19 food-related practices. Significant changes in consumers’ food practices during the pandemic were seen within and between regions, with fewer cooking practices changes found in the USA. Food practices, which may put added pressure on the food system, such as bulk buying, were seen across all regions. To prevent this, organisational food practices, including planning ahead, should be emphasized. Additionally, while positive cooking-related practices and increases in fruit and vegetable intake were found, an increase in saturated fat intake was also seen. With the additional pressure on individuals’ physical and mental health, the essentiality of maintaining a balanced diet should be promoted.
Blain Murphy; Tony Benson; Amanda McCloat; Elaine Mooney; Chris Elliott; Moira Dean; Fiona Lavelle. Changes in Consumers’ Food Practices during the COVID-19 Lockdown, Implications for Diet Quality and the Food System: A Cross-Continental Comparison. Nutrients 2020, 13, 20 .
AMA StyleBlain Murphy, Tony Benson, Amanda McCloat, Elaine Mooney, Chris Elliott, Moira Dean, Fiona Lavelle. Changes in Consumers’ Food Practices during the COVID-19 Lockdown, Implications for Diet Quality and the Food System: A Cross-Continental Comparison. Nutrients. 2020; 13 (1):20.
Chicago/Turabian StyleBlain Murphy; Tony Benson; Amanda McCloat; Elaine Mooney; Chris Elliott; Moira Dean; Fiona Lavelle. 2020. "Changes in Consumers’ Food Practices during the COVID-19 Lockdown, Implications for Diet Quality and the Food System: A Cross-Continental Comparison." Nutrients 13, no. 1: 20.
Garlic (Allium sativum) is used daily in a variety of cooking methods worldwide however, it is under threat from economic adulteration. Garlic and possible adulterants such as talc, maltodextrin, corn starch, cornflour, peanut butter powder, sodium caseinate, potato starch, rice flour, cassava and white maize meal were obtained for the development of an adulteration detection method. Near infrared (NIR) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) along with chemometrics were used for adulteration detection method development. Principal component analysis (PCA) models were created to establish if there was separation of garlic from the adulterants. Orthogonal partial least squares – discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) models were then developed resulting in R2 and Q2 values of 0.985 and 0.914 respectively for NIR. The FTIR values were 0.994 (R2) and 0.964 (Q2). Following validation, the receiver operating curve (ROC) indicated highly accurate models with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.997 for NIR and 1 for FTIR. The Youden index was calculated at 0.984 and 1 for NIR and FTIR respectively and used to determine the test cut-off value. These results indicate that the NIR and FTIR methods are capable of detecting adulteration in unknown garlic samples and can be used to help protect spice industry from fraud.
Pamela Galvin-King; Simon A. Haughey; Christopher T. Elliott. Garlic adulteration detection using NIR and FTIR spectroscopy and chemometrics. Journal of Food Composition and Analysis 2020, 96, 103757 .
AMA StylePamela Galvin-King, Simon A. Haughey, Christopher T. Elliott. Garlic adulteration detection using NIR and FTIR spectroscopy and chemometrics. Journal of Food Composition and Analysis. 2020; 96 ():103757.
Chicago/Turabian StylePamela Galvin-King; Simon A. Haughey; Christopher T. Elliott. 2020. "Garlic adulteration detection using NIR and FTIR spectroscopy and chemometrics." Journal of Food Composition and Analysis 96, no. : 103757.
Fraud in the food supply system will be exacerbated by shortages caused by climate change and COVID-19’s impact. The dried herbs market exemplifies complex supply chains attractive to criminals seeking financial gain. Real-time remote testing is achievable through development of globally accessible chemometric models for portable near infrared devices, deployed throughout supply chains. This study describes building of models for detection of oregano adulteration, on portable near infrared devices, and comparison to a laboratory-based Fourier-Transform Infrared spectroscopy method. 33/34 portable devices were able to correctly classify 5 out of 6 samples successfully with all adulterated samples being correctly classified following the use of appropriate transferability pre-processing routines. The devices native setup shows limited ability to perform a true screening of oregano using the setup offered. However modifications to the setup could in the future offer a solution that facilitates fit-for-purpose real time detection of adulterated samples within the supply chain.
Terry F. McGrath; Simon A. Haughey; Marivil Islam; Christopher T. Elliott; S.D. Kelly; M. Suman; T. Rindy; F. Taous; D.L. García-González; D. Singh; Soe Nan Wai; A. Zitek; Z. Jandric; J. Almirall; A. Acosta; C. Thao; L. Hoo Fung; Jae-Kyung Kim; M. Burns; I. Strashnov; R. Sarver; A. Dua; C. Mcvey; M. Shannon; P. Galvin-King; N. Logan; S. Erasmus; A. Samokhin; Lian Jie Bay; S.A. Muhammad; V. Novak; D. Pérez-Marín; D. Wunderlin; G.N. Kasozi; V. Baeten; H.M.N.L. Handagiripathira. The potential of handheld near infrared spectroscopy to detect food adulteration: Results of a global, multi-instrument inter-laboratory study. Food Chemistry 2020, 353, 128718 .
AMA StyleTerry F. McGrath, Simon A. Haughey, Marivil Islam, Christopher T. Elliott, S.D. Kelly, M. Suman, T. Rindy, F. Taous, D.L. García-González, D. Singh, Soe Nan Wai, A. Zitek, Z. Jandric, J. Almirall, A. Acosta, C. Thao, L. Hoo Fung, Jae-Kyung Kim, M. Burns, I. Strashnov, R. Sarver, A. Dua, C. Mcvey, M. Shannon, P. Galvin-King, N. Logan, S. Erasmus, A. Samokhin, Lian Jie Bay, S.A. Muhammad, V. Novak, D. Pérez-Marín, D. Wunderlin, G.N. Kasozi, V. Baeten, H.M.N.L. Handagiripathira. The potential of handheld near infrared spectroscopy to detect food adulteration: Results of a global, multi-instrument inter-laboratory study. Food Chemistry. 2020; 353 ():128718.
Chicago/Turabian StyleTerry F. McGrath; Simon A. Haughey; Marivil Islam; Christopher T. Elliott; S.D. Kelly; M. Suman; T. Rindy; F. Taous; D.L. García-González; D. Singh; Soe Nan Wai; A. Zitek; Z. Jandric; J. Almirall; A. Acosta; C. Thao; L. Hoo Fung; Jae-Kyung Kim; M. Burns; I. Strashnov; R. Sarver; A. Dua; C. Mcvey; M. Shannon; P. Galvin-King; N. Logan; S. Erasmus; A. Samokhin; Lian Jie Bay; S.A. Muhammad; V. Novak; D. Pérez-Marín; D. Wunderlin; G.N. Kasozi; V. Baeten; H.M.N.L. Handagiripathira. 2020. "The potential of handheld near infrared spectroscopy to detect food adulteration: Results of a global, multi-instrument inter-laboratory study." Food Chemistry 353, no. : 128718.
Tropane alkaloids (TAs) are secondary plant metabolites derived mainly from Solanaceae plant families, with the most virulent invasive species being Datura stramonium. Datura stramonium commonly grows in cereal fields and produce TAs (e.g., hyoscyamine and scopolamine) which may accidentally contaminate cereals (and cereal‐based foods) at occasionally high levels. Dietary exposure to TAs can be toxic and depending on the dose ingested can cause outcomes ranging from anticholinergic effects to acute poisoning and death. In 2019, 315 adults became ill and another five adults died in Uganda following consumption of a “Super Cereal” (a fortified blended food) that was later confirmed to be contaminated by TAs—a scenario which provoked this holistic review on TAs in foodstuffs. Thus, this article provides information on the history, development, occurrences, exposures, and human legislative and health benchmarks for TAs. It describes control strategies for reducing TA contamination of agricultural commodities and resultant health implications following consumption of TA contaminated foodstuffs. Adequate application of food safety control measures (including maximum limits) and good practices, from the start of cereal cultivation through to the final stages of manufacturing of food products can aid in the reduction of seeing toxic plants including D. stramonium in cereal fields.
Wilfred A. Abia; Holly Montgomery; Anne P. Nugent; Christopher T. Elliott. Tropane alkaloid contamination of agricultural commodities and food products in relation to consumer health: Learnings from the 2019 Uganda food aid outbreak. Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety 2020, 20, 501 -525.
AMA StyleWilfred A. Abia, Holly Montgomery, Anne P. Nugent, Christopher T. Elliott. Tropane alkaloid contamination of agricultural commodities and food products in relation to consumer health: Learnings from the 2019 Uganda food aid outbreak. Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety. 2020; 20 (1):501-525.
Chicago/Turabian StyleWilfred A. Abia; Holly Montgomery; Anne P. Nugent; Christopher T. Elliott. 2020. "Tropane alkaloid contamination of agricultural commodities and food products in relation to consumer health: Learnings from the 2019 Uganda food aid outbreak." Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety 20, no. 1: 501-525.
Milk and milk products play a vital role in diets around the globe. Due to their nutritional benefits there has been an increase in production and consumption over the past thirty years. For this growth to continue the safety and authenticity of dairy products needs to be maintained which is a huge area of concern. Throughout the process, from farm to processor, different sources of contamination (biological, chemical or physical) may occur either accidently or intentionally. Through online resources (the EU Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) and HorizonScan) safety and fraud data were collected from the past five years relating to milk and milk products. Cheese notifications were most frequently reported for both safety alerts (pathogenic micro-organisms) and fraud incidences (fraudulent documentation). Alongside the significant number of biological contaminations identified, chemical, physical and inadequate controls (in particular; foreign bodies, allergens, industrial contaminants and mycotoxins) were also found. Although the number of incidents were significantly smaller, these contaminants can still pose a significant risk to human health depending on their toxicity and exposure. Grey literature provided a summary of contamination and fraud issues from around the globe and shows its potential to be used alongside database resources for a holistic overview. In ensuring the integrity of milk during ever changing global factors (climate change, competition between food and feed and global pandemics) it is vital that safety and authenticity issues are continually monitored by industry, researchers and governing bodies.
Holly Montgomery; Simon A. Haughey; Christopher T. Elliott. Recent food safety and fraud issues within the dairy supply chain (2015–2019). Global Food Security 2020, 26, 100447 -100447.
AMA StyleHolly Montgomery, Simon A. Haughey, Christopher T. Elliott. Recent food safety and fraud issues within the dairy supply chain (2015–2019). Global Food Security. 2020; 26 ():100447-100447.
Chicago/Turabian StyleHolly Montgomery; Simon A. Haughey; Christopher T. Elliott. 2020. "Recent food safety and fraud issues within the dairy supply chain (2015–2019)." Global Food Security 26, no. : 100447-100447.
Due to constant integrity challenges, ambiguous definitions, and lack of specific guidance, the food industry has been left vulnerable to food fraud. Food fraud is undefined by the EU, resulting in the creation of varying definitions from researchers and regulatory bodies. Not having a definition of food fraud and related terms makes it challenging to comprehend, communicate and ideate on how to prevent it. Furthermore, the food industry is lacking clear guidance on the prevention and mitigation of food fraud. Several documents are available to help guide the food industry; however, they are nonspecific to supply chains, which has left a substantial gap in knowledge that is necessary to protect the food supply. This review analyzed definitions for food fraud and related terms, as well as current guidance on food fraud prevention and mitigation, which can be utilized by the food industry to find commonality and assess where more information is needed. An abundance of literature describing food fraud was found, and although definitions varied, the common themes of intentional acts and economic motivation were widespread. Additionally, general guidance documents for food fraud mitigation and prevention shared general ideas of supply chain transparency, supplier audits, horizon scanning, and vulnerability assessment, which could be utilized throughout the food industry.
Kelsey Robson; Moira Dean; Simon Haughey; Christopher Elliott. A comprehensive review of food fraud terminologies and food fraud mitigation guides. Food Control 2020, 120, 107516 .
AMA StyleKelsey Robson, Moira Dean, Simon Haughey, Christopher Elliott. A comprehensive review of food fraud terminologies and food fraud mitigation guides. Food Control. 2020; 120 ():107516.
Chicago/Turabian StyleKelsey Robson; Moira Dean; Simon Haughey; Christopher Elliott. 2020. "A comprehensive review of food fraud terminologies and food fraud mitigation guides." Food Control 120, no. : 107516.
The spice paprika (Capsicum annuum and frutescens) is used in a wide variety of cooking methods as well as seasonings and sauces. The oil, paprika oleoresin, is a valuable product; however, once removed from paprika, the remaining spent product can be used to adulterate paprika. Near-infrared (NIR) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) were the platforms selected for the development of methods to detect paprika adulteration in conjunction with chemometrics. Orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA), a supervised technique, was used to develop the chemometric models, and the measurement of fit (R2) and measurement of prediction (Q2) values were 0.853 and 0.819, respectively, for the NIR method and 0.943 and 0.898 respectively for the FTIR method. An external validation set was tested against the model, and a receiver operating curve (ROC) was created. The area under the curve (AUC) for both methods was highly accurate at 0.951 (NIR) and 0.907 (FTIR). The levels of adulteration with 100% correct classification were 50–90% (NIR) and 40–90% (FTIR). Sudan I dye is a commonly used adulterant in paprika; however, in this study it was found that this dye had no effect on the outcome of the result for spent material adulteration.
Pamela Galvin-King; Simon A. Haughey; Christopher T. Elliott. The Detection of Substitution Adulteration of Paprika with Spent Paprika by the Application of Molecular Spectroscopy Tools. Foods 2020, 9, 944 .
AMA StylePamela Galvin-King, Simon A. Haughey, Christopher T. Elliott. The Detection of Substitution Adulteration of Paprika with Spent Paprika by the Application of Molecular Spectroscopy Tools. Foods. 2020; 9 (7):944.
Chicago/Turabian StylePamela Galvin-King; Simon A. Haughey; Christopher T. Elliott. 2020. "The Detection of Substitution Adulteration of Paprika with Spent Paprika by the Application of Molecular Spectroscopy Tools." Foods 9, no. 7: 944.
The preservative sodium nitrite is added to processed meat with the intention of preventing the growth of Clostridium botulinum, but this also influences product flavour and colour. The World Health Organisation has declared nitrites to be ‘probably carcinogenic’. Use is permitted by the European Union but its addition is limited to 100 mg/kg in all processed meat, except bacon, which is limited to 175 mg/kg. At present, there is no independent peer-reviewed literature assessing the residual nitrite levels in bacon in the United Kingdom. Furthermore, this is the largest study of residual nitrite concentrations in bacon that has ever been conducted. A total of 89 different commercially available bacon samples were collected, and analysed using flow injection analysis to determine their residual nitrite content. The mean residual nitrite concentration for all bacon samples was 10.80 mg/kg. Residual nitrite levels did not differ between smoked and unsmoked bacon. Middle cut bacon (26.00 mg/kg) had significantly higher residual nitrite concentrations than back bacon (8.87 mg/kg; p = 0.027), and medallion bacon (4.47 mg/kg; p = 0.008). This study shows that there is large variation in the mean residual nitrite levels of bacon sold in the UK and all the reported values are within current regulatory limits. Despite this, it appears that many manufacturers could decrease the amount that they are currently using in their products.
William Crowe; Christopher T Elliott; Brian D Green. Evaluating the Residual Nitrite Concentrations of Bacon in the United Kingdom. Foods 2020, 9, 916 .
AMA StyleWilliam Crowe, Christopher T Elliott, Brian D Green. Evaluating the Residual Nitrite Concentrations of Bacon in the United Kingdom. Foods. 2020; 9 (7):916.
Chicago/Turabian StyleWilliam Crowe; Christopher T Elliott; Brian D Green. 2020. "Evaluating the Residual Nitrite Concentrations of Bacon in the United Kingdom." Foods 9, no. 7: 916.
Several studies have reported a wide range of severe health effects as well as clinical signs, when livestock animals are exposed to high concentration of mycotoxins. However, little is known regarding health effects of mycotoxins at low levels. Thus, a long-term feeding trial (between May 2017 and December 2019) was used to evaluate the effect of low doses of mycotoxin mixtures on performance of broiler chickens fed a naturally contaminated diet. In total, 18 successive broiler performance trials were carried out during the study period, with approximately 2200 one-day-old Ross-308 chicks used for each trial. Feed samples given to birds were collected at the beginning of each trial and analysed for multi-mycotoxins using a validated LC-MS/MS method. Furthermore, parameters including feed intake, body weight and feed efficiency were recorded on a weekly basis. In total, 24 mycotoxins were detected in samples analysed with deoxynivalenol (DON), zearalenone (ZEN), fumonisins (FBs), apicidin, enniatins (ENNs), emodin and beauvericin (BEV), the most prevalent mycotoxins. Furthermore, significantly higher levels (however below EU guidance values) of DON, ZEN, FBs, BEV, ENNs and diacetoxyscirpenol (DAS) were detected in 6 of the 18 performance trials. A strong positive relationship was observed between broilers feed efficiency and DON (R2 = 0.85), FBs (R2 = 0.53), DAS (R2 = 0.86), ZEN (R2 = 0.92), ENNs (R2 = 0.60) and BEV (R2 = 0.73). Moreover, a three-way interaction regression model revealed that mixtures of ZEN, DON and FBs (p = 0.01, R2 = 0.84) and ZEN, DON and DAS (p = 0.001, R2 = 0.91) had a statistically significant interaction effect on the birds’ feed efficiency. As farm animals are often exposed to low doses of mycotoxin mixtures (especially fusarium mycotoxins), a cumulative risk assessment in terms of measuring and mitigating against the economic, welfare and health impacts is needed for this group of compounds.
Oluwatobi Kolawole; Abigail Graham; Caroline Donaldson; Bronagh Owens; Wilfred A. Abia; Julie Meneely; Michael J. Alcorn; Lisa Connolly; Christopher T. Elliott. Low Doses of Mycotoxin Mixtures below EU Regulatory Limits Can Negatively Affect the Performance of Broiler Chickens: A Longitudinal Study. Toxins 2020, 12, 433 .
AMA StyleOluwatobi Kolawole, Abigail Graham, Caroline Donaldson, Bronagh Owens, Wilfred A. Abia, Julie Meneely, Michael J. Alcorn, Lisa Connolly, Christopher T. Elliott. Low Doses of Mycotoxin Mixtures below EU Regulatory Limits Can Negatively Affect the Performance of Broiler Chickens: A Longitudinal Study. Toxins. 2020; 12 (7):433.
Chicago/Turabian StyleOluwatobi Kolawole; Abigail Graham; Caroline Donaldson; Bronagh Owens; Wilfred A. Abia; Julie Meneely; Michael J. Alcorn; Lisa Connolly; Christopher T. Elliott. 2020. "Low Doses of Mycotoxin Mixtures below EU Regulatory Limits Can Negatively Affect the Performance of Broiler Chickens: A Longitudinal Study." Toxins 12, no. 7: 433.
Quantification of colorimetric assays with smartphones is being increasingly reported. However, a complete characterisation of the performance of existing colour spaces and single colour channels for optimum colour/intensity change quantification is absent. Moreover, it has not been ascertained if it is necessary to utilize existing colour spaces to reach optimal assay quantification. In this study a randomised channel approach was adapted utilizing all single channels from RGB, HSV and CieLab colour space and all non-repeating random combinations of 2 and 3 channels of these colour spaces. Assays based on colour or intensity change using pH strips and gold or carbon black nanoparticle containing paper strips were optimized using this approach. Several novel channel combinations showed great promise in terms of prediction error and inter-phone variation reduction, outperforming RGB, HSV and CieLab colour spaces. These novel combinations were used in a custom developed smartphone application that performed automated background subtraction and polynomial regression for the quantification of a lateral flow assay for the detection of goat milk adulteration with cow milk and for pH prediction in soil. For the lateral flow assay the channel combination BSA was found optimum (mean average error 36 ± 6%; linear regression R2=0.97). For the soil pH assay the channel combination RLC was found optimum (mean average error 1.31 ± 0.02%; line-ar regression R2=0.997). The study has shown that non-classical channel combinations for colorimetric quantification of specific assays are very promising and should be considered for smartphone-based analysis.
Joost L. D. Nelis; Yunfeng Zhao; Laszlo Bura; Karen Rafferty; Christopher T. Elliott; Katrina Campbell. A Randomized Combined Channel Approach for the Quantification of Color- and Intensity-Based Assays with Smartphones. Analytical Chemistry 2020, 92, 7852 -7860.
AMA StyleJoost L. D. Nelis, Yunfeng Zhao, Laszlo Bura, Karen Rafferty, Christopher T. Elliott, Katrina Campbell. A Randomized Combined Channel Approach for the Quantification of Color- and Intensity-Based Assays with Smartphones. Analytical Chemistry. 2020; 92 (11):7852-7860.
Chicago/Turabian StyleJoost L. D. Nelis; Yunfeng Zhao; Laszlo Bura; Karen Rafferty; Christopher T. Elliott; Katrina Campbell. 2020. "A Randomized Combined Channel Approach for the Quantification of Color- and Intensity-Based Assays with Smartphones." Analytical Chemistry 92, no. 11: 7852-7860.
The Horsemeat Scandal of 2013 highlighted vulnerabilities within the European beef supply chain. The report resulted in mass product recalls across Europe, a downturn in beef sales, and subsequent economic losses for genuine actors in the supply chain. The aim of this review was to improve understanding of beef supply chain vulnerability via the use of trend analysis, to enable the formulation of strategies that may help in the prevention and detection of fraud in beef products, and facilitate greater protection for consumers and industry in the future. Relevant Food notifications published in the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) and HorizonScan in 1997–2017 were extracted and analysed to determine their overall pattern. Frauds/adulterations were categorized by the type of fraud, their location in the food production chain, the notifying country and the origin of the food. Counterfeiting was the most common type of fraud in the beef industry; it accounted for 42.9% of all reports documented. When reports were classified by area in the supply chain in the report occurred, 36.4% of all cases were attributed to primary processing, of which 95.5% were counterfeiting cases. Counterfeiting included products manufactured/packed on unapproved premises, or without appropriate inspection or documentation, as well as products issued with fraudulent health certificates. Thus we conclude counterfeit product was found to be the biggest threat to the beef supply chain in relation to fraud type.
Kelsey Robson; Moira Dean; Stephanie Brooks; Simon Haughey; Christopher Elliott. A 20-year analysis of reported food fraud in the global beef supply chain. Food Control 2020, 116, 107310 .
AMA StyleKelsey Robson, Moira Dean, Stephanie Brooks, Simon Haughey, Christopher Elliott. A 20-year analysis of reported food fraud in the global beef supply chain. Food Control. 2020; 116 ():107310.
Chicago/Turabian StyleKelsey Robson; Moira Dean; Stephanie Brooks; Simon Haughey; Christopher Elliott. 2020. "A 20-year analysis of reported food fraud in the global beef supply chain." Food Control 116, no. : 107310.
The global increase of toxin-producing cyanobacteria poses a serious risk to humans. Many investigations have shown that the cyanotoxin microcystin-LR induces hepatotoxicity in rodents. However, many of these studies applied the toxin intraperitoneally or used high oral concentrations, leading to an unrealistically high bioavailability of the toxin. Such approaches have put into question how these results translate to human exposure scenarios. Epidemiology studies have linked microcystin-LR with hepatotoxicity and liver cancer in humans, though by design these investigations cannot provide direct evidence. The present work investigated the effect of microcystin-LR exposure on pigs closely mimicking real-life human conditions. In two animal experiments, pigs were administered microcystin-LR daily by oral gavage for 35 days. Metabolomic and lipidomic tools were used to analyse blood and liver samples. In addition, blood biochemistry parameters indicative of liver function and health were studied to further investigate the potential hepatotoxic effects of microcystin-LR. Results indicated that the metabolomic and lipidomic analyses did not show a gross treatment effect in blood and liver. Furthermore, no significant alterations were found in the tested blood biochemistry parameters. No evidence of hepatotoxicity was found. These results shed more light onto the effects (or lack of effects) of low-dose oral microcystin-LR exposure. The data suggests that the risk of oral microcystin-LR exposure may be overestimated.
Richard D. Welten; Julie P. Meneely; Olivier P. Chevallier; Vít Kosek; Brett Greer; Jana Hajslova; Christopher T. Elliott. Oral Microcystin-LR Does Not Cause Hepatotoxicity in Pigs: Is the Risk of Microcystin-LR Overestimated? Exposure and Health 2019, 12, 775 -792.
AMA StyleRichard D. Welten, Julie P. Meneely, Olivier P. Chevallier, Vít Kosek, Brett Greer, Jana Hajslova, Christopher T. Elliott. Oral Microcystin-LR Does Not Cause Hepatotoxicity in Pigs: Is the Risk of Microcystin-LR Overestimated? Exposure and Health. 2019; 12 (4):775-792.
Chicago/Turabian StyleRichard D. Welten; Julie P. Meneely; Olivier P. Chevallier; Vít Kosek; Brett Greer; Jana Hajslova; Christopher T. Elliott. 2019. "Oral Microcystin-LR Does Not Cause Hepatotoxicity in Pigs: Is the Risk of Microcystin-LR Overestimated?" Exposure and Health 12, no. 4: 775-792.
Bottom-up, end-user based feed, and food analysis through smartphone quantification of lateral flow assays (LFA) has the potential to cause a paradigm shift in testing capabilities. However, most developed devices do not test the presence of and implications of inter-phone variation. Much discussion remains regarding optimum color space for smartphone colorimetric analyses and, an in-depth comparison of color space performance is missing. Moreover, a light-shielding box is often used to avoid variations caused by background illumination while the use of such a bulky add-on may be avoidable through image background correction. Here, quantification performance of individual channels of RGB, HSV, and LAB color space and ΔRGB was determined for color and color intensity variation using pH strips, filter paper with dropped nanoparticles, and colored solutions. LAB and HSV color space channels never outperformed the best RGB channels in any test. Background correction avoided measurement variation if no direct sunlight was used and functioned more efficiently outside a light-shielding box (prediction errors < 5%/35% for color/color intensity change). The system was validated using various phones for quantification of major allergens (i.e., gluten in buffer, bovine milk in goat milk and goat cheese), and, pH in soil extracts with commercial pH strips and LFA. Inter-phone variation was significant for LFA quantification but low using pH strips (prediction errors < 10% for all six phones compared). Thus, assays based on color change hold the strongest promise for end-user adapted smartphone diagnostics.
Joost Laurus Dinant Nelis; Laszlo Bura; Yunfeng Zhao; Konstantin M. Burkin; Karen Rafferty; Christopher T. Elliott; Katrina Campbell. The Efficiency of Color Space Channels to Quantify Color and Color Intensity Change in Liquids, pH Strips, and Lateral Flow Assays with Smartphones. Sensors 2019, 19, 5104 .
AMA StyleJoost Laurus Dinant Nelis, Laszlo Bura, Yunfeng Zhao, Konstantin M. Burkin, Karen Rafferty, Christopher T. Elliott, Katrina Campbell. The Efficiency of Color Space Channels to Quantify Color and Color Intensity Change in Liquids, pH Strips, and Lateral Flow Assays with Smartphones. Sensors. 2019; 19 (23):5104.
Chicago/Turabian StyleJoost Laurus Dinant Nelis; Laszlo Bura; Yunfeng Zhao; Konstantin M. Burkin; Karen Rafferty; Christopher T. Elliott; Katrina Campbell. 2019. "The Efficiency of Color Space Channels to Quantify Color and Color Intensity Change in Liquids, pH Strips, and Lateral Flow Assays with Smartphones." Sensors 19, no. 23: 5104.