TRACE John Gilbert

“Novel Applications of Analytical Methods in Food Safety”

CSL/JIFSAN, York, 30th June-2nd July 2004

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Novel Approaches to food authenticity and Novel Approaches to food authenticity and

traceabilitytraceability

Paul Brereton

[email protected]

Central Science

Laboratory,York

UK



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IntroductionIntroduction

� Background

– need for tracing origin

– traceability

� TRACE

– Overview

– Novel approaches



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TraceabilityTraceability

� “The ability to trace the history, application or location of an entity by means of recorded information (ISO 8402:1994)”.

� “The ability to trace and follow a food, feed, food-producing animal or substance through all stages of production and distribution (draft EU Regulation – Food Law: 8/5/01)”.

� According to the General Food Law*, traceability systems have to be operational in the food industry by January 1st, 2005 - one-up and one-down stage traceability.

*Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down the general principles and

requirements of food law (178/2002/EC).



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European initiatives to support foodEuropean initiatives to support food

traceabilitytraceability

� Consumer socio-economic concerns and preferences relating to the origin of food- BSE, dioxins, regional foods, type of production

� Can the analytical community provide methods that can support traceability information systems?

� EU FPVI Food 2003 2A T 4.1 “Development of reliable traceability methods and systems to establish the origin/mode of production of food products”

TRACE (IP)

- tracing the origin of food

�“To develop traceability methods and systems that will provide consumers

with added confidence in the authenticity of European food.”

• 18. 6 M€

• 60 months

• 50 participants

(13 SME’s)

European Commission -DG Research

Demonstration

Dissemination

Training

network

Advisory Board

Consumer Awareness

Traceability

systemsManagementAnalytical

toolsConsumer

BehaviourTIMCS



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TRACETRACE --objectivesobjectives

� To develop and test a generic information infrastructure to ensure complete traceabilityalong entire fork to farm food chains

� To correlate geochemical morphology andbioclimatic factors with that of locally grown food,

� To develop rapid, robust, accurate and cost-effective methods for determining species/varietalorigin of food,

� To develop rapid, cost-effective “fingerprint”methods that can characterise food products,



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TRACE objectives (continued)TRACE objectives (continued)

� To develop novel specifications from multivariate analytical

data, which can be used to characterise food products

� To map verifiable data to analytical methods specifications

and thresholds

� To develop and exploit TIMCS such that it will be the focus of

European information on food authenticity and traceability

� To assess European consumer perceptions, attitudes, and

expectations regarding the authenticity of food products

� To develop 'Good Traceability Practice' guides for the food

industry

Verifiable claims about

the food origin

Non-verifiable

claims (about the

food item)

Mapping methods

& specification to

claims

Analytical tools

Specifications

Main activities in

TRACE

Demonstration

Communication, Dissemination, Training, Consumer Awareness

Unique identification

& physical data

carrier

(bar code, RF-ID)

Traceability

infrastructure to

trace back to origin

and track forward to

consumer

Establishment of list of sector-specific parameters to be

recorded in the links and transmitted between the links

Traceability system

Consumer

Behaviour

Food item (sample)

Properties of the

food item

Identification of

the food item

Verifying origin – current position



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TRACE

European Consumers

Consumer Group Leader*

Consumer Awareness

Advisory Board

Consumer Behaviour

National Consumer Associations

7 Accession

Countries

3 EEA

Countries

15 EU

Members

*BEUC Representative

BEUC meetings

Consumer input

into TRACE



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Technology TransferTechnology Transfer

� 5 Demonstration activities

– Mineral water

– Cereal

– Honey

– Imported Chinese Chicken (CAC)

– Complex meat

� Training Network

– Comprehensive training of scientists within TRACE

TR

AC

E-O

rgan

isat

ion

Co-o

rdin

ator

AT

GT

SG

CB

AT

TG

MC

G

Consumer behaviour

Consumer Awareness

Statistical specifications

Generic traceability

Specific traceability

Demonstration

Training network

Advisory board

TIMCS

Trace Secretariat

Gro

up

s

Fingerprinting-profiling

Species origin methods

Food origin mapping

Work

Pac

kag

es

= M

anag

emen

t B

oar

d+

= S

cien

tifi

c C

om

mit

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AB

Obs.



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Analytical toolsAnalytical tools

� Development of cost effective analytical strategies for the determination of:

– Geographical origin

– Production origin

– Species origin

� Analytical techniques:

– Stable isotopes and trace elements

– Fingerprinting

– Molecular biology



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Novel approachesNovel approaches--Food Origin MappingFood Origin Mapping

� Trace element composition and stable

isotope signature is affected by:

– Geology e.g. δ87Sr, trace elements

– Agriculture e.g. δ15N, trace elements

– Production process e.g. δ13C, trace elements

– Environment e.g. Pb

− Climate δ2H, δ18O



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Fractionation of stable isotopes of Fractionation of stable isotopes of

hydrogenhydrogen

� Ratio of deuterium (nat abundance 0.015%) to hydrogen 2H/1H is affected by fractionation due to several factors such as:

�Environment

– global

– local

– micro

� Physiological processes



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H2O

HDO

HDO

H2O

Climatic Factors affecting D/H ratio - Evaporation & Reprecipitation



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Factors affecting D/H and ratio - Geographic Latitude

Increasing latitude from equator

Depleted deuterium content in surface and groundwater



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Interpolated δ2H of precipitation

Produced by James Elhringer University of Utah



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Determination of originDetermination of origin-- IRMS & ICPIRMS & ICP--MSMS

� δ2H, δ15N, δ13C, δ18O,, δ34S (IRMS) and trace elements & δ87Sr (ICP-MS) can be used to determine geographical and production origin.

� Rossmann et al, The potential of multielement stable isotope analysis for regional origin assignment of butter.Eur Food Res Technol (2000)

� Used to expose circular trade in butter– German TV Programme

� Piasentier et al, Stable isotope ratio analysis for authentication of lamb meat, Meat Science, 64, (2003), 239-247

� Zorly et al, (2003) 24, 6, 195-199



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CAN 3(13%)

-10

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CAN1 (54%)-4

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CAN2 (25%)-4-3-2-10123456

CAN2 (25%)

SpainGermanyAustriaEnglandFranceItaly

3D Scatter Plot of Milk by Country - isotopic & trace element values

SMT4SMT4--CT98CT98--22362236

Food origin map

British chicken

Encoded label

Authenticity matrix information

δ 2 H = - 125 to - 150‰

Low cost commercial 2 H analysis (20€)

� Confirm

Authenticity

TRACE-Food Origin Mapping



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Fingerprint/profiling methodsFingerprint/profiling methods

� New technology arising from metabolomicssector

� Fingerprinting- empirical approachfor characterising food products

� Identification of marker compounds

� Methods: NMR, FT-IR, electrophoresis, LC-MS, GC-MS, NIR

� Food Verification Methods



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Fingerprinting/ProfilingFingerprinting/Profiling

Bar Code ?

Contains spectral information characterising

sample(s)/batches

�Methods to verify food



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Data processing and interpretation tools e.g.Data processing and interpretation tools e.g.

MetabolabMetabolab



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Applications of Food Verification MethodsApplications of Food Verification Methods

� Supporting traceability systems

– Quality Assurance

– Brand “Intelligence”

– Brand Protection



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Whisky A

Whisky B

Suspect whisky

sample

Detection of Counterfeit Spirits



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Determining species origin

�State of the art– Sophisticated SCMS are being developed– Animal passports + DNA profile– Kits for species id becoming commercially available – Complex foods ?– varieties?, varieties in complex foods ??– Tissues in complex foods ??– Quantitative ?– Cost ?



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Molecular methods for tracing animal tissue

– nucleic acidsa) Species ID - PCR amplification of species-informative DNA

− Mitochondrial cytochrome B PCR in various formats and

platforms

b) Race variety or breed identification by genotyping − Microsatellite Analysis - Pattern based profiling of species and

populations based on repetitive genomic elements

− AFLP(Amplified fragment length polymorphism) DNA

fingerprinting techniques which detect DNA restriction

fragments through PCR amplification. Polymorphisms affecting

the presence or size of restriction fragments can be detected

c) Tissues from the same individual− Gene expression studies to distinguish organs and method of

production



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Species Identified (Species Identified (bioMérieux FoodExpert-ID®)

•Skipjack tuna (Euthynnus pelamis)

•Spotted tunny (Euthynnus alleterattus)

Mammalian species

•Beef (Bos taurus)

•Cat (Felis catus)

•European hare (Lepus europaeus)

•Goat (Capra hircus)

•Human (Homo sapiens)

•Mouse (Mus musculus)

•Mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus)

•Pig / Boar (Sus scrofa)

•Rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus)

•Rat (Rattus norvegicus)

•Reindeer (Rangifer tarandus)

•Sheep (Ovis aries)

Avian species

•Chicken (Gallus gallus)

•Goose (Anser anser)

•Guinea fowl (Numida meleagris)

•Ostrich (Struthio camelus)

•Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo)

Fish species

•Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus)

•Atlantic bonito (Sarda sarda)

•Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua)

•Atlantic mackerel (Scomber scombrus)

•Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar)

•Brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis)

•European eel (Anguilla anguilla)

•European hake (Merluccius merluccius)

•Greenland cod (Gadus ogac)

•Japanese eel (Anguilla japonica)

•Mozambican eel (Anguilla mossambica)

•Rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)

•Sea trout (Salmo trutta)



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SummarySummary--TRACETRACE

� Traceability systems and methods will be developed to verify:

– Geographical origin

– Production origin

– Species origin

� Work to start January 2005



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AcknowledgementsAcknowledgements

� Simon Hird

� Chris Rhodes

� Janice Lofthouse

� Sarah Oehlshlager

� Simon Kelly (IFR)

� bioMérieux

� Food Standards Agency

� European Commission

�Adrian Charlton

�John Godward

�TRACE consortium

TRACE John Gilbert

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