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Taking on food fraudsters
Summary
This is a journalistic or trade magazine article discussing advances in analytical chemistry for detecting food fraud, such as adulterated wine, diluted honey, and mislabeled protein sources. It is not a primary research article and is unrelated to microplastics.
Does this food bar contain insect protein? Is this classic wine a fake? Has this honey been diluted with syrup? Could I be eating “meat glue”? Increasingly, the answer to such questions is yes, according to analytical chemists working in food analysis. Global population growth puts more strain on food production and provides greater incentive for fraudulent activity such as replacing food ingredients with cheaper alternatives, according to Markus Fischer, a chemistry professor and director of the Institute of Food Chemistry at the University of Hamburg. Fischer and other analytical chemists are trying to be smarter at finding fraudulent foodstuffs by identifying food “fingerprints” more rapidly and at reduced cost. In addition to looking for fake foods that masquerade as authentic, they are seeking out contaminants such as microplastics, toxins from fungi, and unapproved ingredients. More-sensitive instruments and advances in data analytics are helping scientists stay a step ahead of