Project Type
Coordinated Research Project
Project Code
D52038
CRP
1982
Approved Date
8 February 2013
Start Date
13 September 2013
Expected End Date
30 June 2019
Completed Date
21 September 2020
Participating Countries
New Zealand
Description
This CRP will address some of the challenges that developing countries are facing in ensuring food traceability. It will develop a complete end-to-end system using dairy milk as an example commodity. This system will then be available as a template that can be transferred to other commodities as required.
Objectives
To establish a coherent and sustainable system for the verification of the origin of a food that will support the rapid tracking of contaminated products and their removal from the food chain.
Specific objectives
The specific research objective is to develop and implement a sustainable (turn-key) system utilising nuclear techniques that permits the rapid verification of the origin of dairy products.
A fast response network of experts who can be called upon to respond to a food-safety incident.
A TECDOC and other scientific publications.
A web-based repository of resources including data products and educational materials for provision to stakeholders, students, consumer organizations, etc.
Collection of background information (environmental “isoscapes” representing spatial and/or temporal variation in isotope ratios of key environmental substrates, e.g., precipitation, rocks, and soils) to inform sampling strategy.
Populating a database with commodity-specific information enabling the assessment of reference values and the associated uncertainty (dispersion), including analysis of geo-referenced samples and accessing quality-assured data stored elsewhere.
Validation of and training in analytical techniques for this purpose, including implementation of quality systems, reference materials, reporting procedures, etc.
Impact
1. This CRP successfully demonstrated the feasibility of using stable isotope and trace element (SITE) analysis combined with other Nuclear and related techniques to establish the geographical origin of milk and other dairy foods produced in developing Member States.
2. This CRP has successfully raised the awareness in Member States of SITE analysis and its applications to food traceability (production and geographical) and authenticity and its potential to reduce barriers to trade and enhance consumer confidence.
3. This CRP has generated a significant number of food authenticity and traceability datasets for the first time.
4. This CRP has enhanced the member state capabilities in SITE analysis and has generated several new methods, SOPs, and training opportunities.
5. This CRP has facilitated further investment by the Member States in these SITE capabilities, and helped secure new funding.
6. This CRP has facilitated new scientific collaborations and involvement in national and international networks and food authenticity projects.
7. This CRP has raised awareness and allowed consortium members to interact with stakeholders and regulators within their respective Member States.
8. Stable isotope and trace element (SITE) ‘fingerprinting’ was successfully used to independently verify the “Selected Quality - Slovenia” mark on milk products in retail markets.
9. The Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority of Singapore (now part of the Singapore Food Agency) used stable isotope and trace element (SITE) ‘fingerprinting’ was successfully.
10. China is using an NMR based method to check the quality of milk in its testing centers based on methodology developed in this CRP.
Relevance
Many commodities, especially those that attract premium prices, may be subject to fraud such as adulteration or counterfeiting. Furthermore, this poses serious health risks due to the unknown identity of the adulterants used and the origin of counterfeits, which may be produced in unsanitary conditions or in premises that are unlicensed for food production. Trade in milk and dairy products is a global issue and there are numerous sensitivities associated with it, which were born out of the "melamine in milk scandal" of 2008. These sensitivities can be political, consumer led and/or commercial. Furthermore, the level of fraud is not well known and many think it is much greater than current estimates. Countries and producers are often reluctant to investigate as even the thought that there may be a problem can damage consumer confidence and cause loss of trade. The IAEA is ideally placed as an impartial agency to help to develop and disseminate the methodology and applications to allow Member States to enhance confidence in their milk and dairy control systems. The analytical technologies that underpin this work are nuclear. These include stable isotope and trace element analyses. These methodologies have the potential to be applied in many developing countries and are a peaceful application of nuclear technology.
CRP Publications
Type
Peer-reviewed scientific journal article
Year
2018
Publication URL
https://www.lmaleidykla.lt/ojs/index.php/physics/article/view/3816
Description
Garbaras, A., Skipityte, R., Meliaschenia, A., Senchenko, T., Smoliak, T., Ivanko, M., Šapolaite, J., Ežerinskis, Ž. and Remeikis, V. (2018) “Region dependent ¹³C, ¹5N, ¹8O isotope ratios in the cow milk”. Lithuanian Journal of Physics, 58, 277 282.
Country/Organization
Lithuania/Center for Physical Sciences and Technology
Type
Peer-reviewed scientific journal article
Year
2016
Publication URL
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0889157516301120
Description
Necemer, M., Potocnik, D. and Ogrinc, N. (2016) “Discrimination between Slovenian cow, goat and sheep milk and cheese according to geographical origin using a combination of elemental content and stable isotope data”. Journal of food composition and analysis, 52, 16 23
Country/Organization
Slovenia/Department of Environmental Sciences, Jožef Stefan Institute
Type
Peer-reviewed scientific journal article
Year
2017
Publication URL
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0308814616321045
Description
Li, Q., Zhao, Y., Zhu, D., Pang, X., Liu, Y., Frew, R. and Chen, G. (2017) “Lipidomics profiling of goat milk, soymilk and bovine milk by UPLC Q Exactive Orbitrap Mass Spectrometry”. Food chemistry, 224, 302 309.
Country/Organization
China/Institute of Quality Standards and Testing Technology for Agro-Products, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences
Type
Peer-reviewed scientific journal article
Year
2018
Publication URL
https://www.proquest.com/openview/57fa00ded8c2cbab1963920e3ea1658a/1.pdf?pq-orig…
Description
Huque R., Jolly Y. N., Choudhury T. R., Munshi M. K., Hussain M. S., Khatun A., Roy B. K., Islam M., Hossain M. A. and Hossain A. (2018) “Evaluation of elemental, microbial and biochemical status of raw and pasteurized cow’s milk”. International Food Research Journal, 25, 1693 1701.
Country/Organization
Bangladesh/Institute of Food and Radiation Biology, Atomic Energy Research Establishment
Type
Peer-reviewed scientific journal article
Year
2016
Publication URL
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Marijan-Necemer/publication/304029659_Multi…
Description
Potocnik, D., Necemer, M., Mazej, D., Jacimovic, R. and Ogrinc, N. (2016) “Multi elemental composition of Slovenian milk: analytical approach and geographical origin determination”. Acta Imeko, 5, 15 21
Country/Organization
Slovenia/Department of Environmental Sciences, Jožef Stefan Institute
Type
Peer-reviewed scientific journal article
Year
2018
Publication URL
http://www.journalacri.com/index.php/ACRI/article/view/17261
Description
Khatun, M.A., Roy, B.K., Hossain, A., Rahman, A., Munshi, M.K., Islam, M., Hossain, M.A., Bhuiya, M.A.I., Rahman, M.M. and Huque, R. (2018) “Biochemical and Microbial Quality Attributes of Cow’s Milk in Respect to Regional Discrimination in Bangladesh”. Archives of Current Research International, 12,1 12.
Country/Organization
Bangladesh/Institute of Food and Radiation Biology, Atomic Energy Research Establishment
Type
Peer-reviewed scientific journal article
Year
2018
Publication URL
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0039914018303965
Description
Hoffman T., Jacimovic R., Bay L. J., Griboff J., Jagodic M., Monferrán M., Ogrinc N., Podkolzin I., Wunderlin D. & Almirall J. (2018) “Development of a method for the elemental analysis of milk powders using laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA ICP MS) and its potential use in geographic sourcing”. Talanta, 186, 670 677.
Country/Organization
U.S.A./Florida International University (First Author)
Type
Peer-reviewed scientific journal article
Year
2019
Publication URL
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308814619301359
Description
Griboff J., Baroni M.V., Horacek M., Wunderlin D.A. and Monferran M.V. (2019). “Multielemental + Isotopic Fingerprint Enables Linking Soil, Water, Forage and Milk Composition, Assessing the Geographical Origin of Argentinean Milk”. Food Chemistry, 283 549 558.
Country/Organization
Argentina/Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnología de Alimentos Córdoba, CONICET and Facultad de Ciencias Químicas, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba (First Author)
Type
Peer-reviewed scientific journal article
Year
2017
Publication URL
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/jsfa.8118
Description
Li, Q., Yu, Z., Zhu, D., Meng, X., Pang, X., Liu, Y., Frew, R., Chen, H. and Chen, G. (2017) “The application of NMR-based milk metabolite analysis in milk authenticity identification”. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, 97, 2875 2882.
Country/Organization
China/Institute of Quality Standards and Testing Technology for Agro-Products, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences
Type
Peer-reviewed scientific journal article
Year
2018
Publication URL
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09712119.2017.1360186
Description
Liang, K., Zhao, Y., Han, J., Liu, P., Qiu, J., Zhu, D., Qin, Y., Lu, L. and Wang, X. (2018) “Fatty acid composition, vitamin A content and oxidative stability of milk in China”. Journal of applied animal research, 46, 566 571.
Country/Organization
China/Institute of Food and Nutrition Development, Ministry of Agriculture
Type
Book chapter
Year
2017
Publication URL
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Gulcan-Arusoglu-2/publication/323428213_201…
Description
Eftimov, T., Korošec, P., Potocnik, D., Ogrinc, N., Heath, D. and Seljak, B.K. (2017) “How to perform properly statistical analysis on food data? An e learning tool: Advanced Statistics in Natural Sciences and Technologies”. Book chapter Science within Food: Up to date Advances on Research and Educational Ideas.
Country/Organization
Slovenia/Department of Environmental Sciences, Jožef Stefan Institute
