Food Authenticity & Fraud Testing

A global issue

Mislabelling and tampering with what we eat and drink is a growing global issue. Fraudsters often replace genuine ingredients with cheaper alternatives, mislead buyers and consumers, and increase the risks associated with allergens or toxicity.

The founding principles of Eurofins were rooted in the desire to combat these dishonest practices. Today, our global laboratory network continues to provide industry-leading solutions to detect and deter food fraud.

What is food fraud?

In the complex world of the global food supply chain, the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) identifies four key categories related to food integrity as shown in Figure 1.

When considering food issues, the distinction often comes down to whether the action was deliberate or unintentional

• Unintentional actions fall under food safety or quality issues

• Intentional actions can be criminal

  • If motivated to harm consumers, the issue is classified as 'Food Defence', and in extreme cases, terrorism

  • If driven by economic gain, it is defined as 'Food Fraud'

Understanding food fraud

Food fraud involves the deliberate substitution, addition, tampering, or misrepresentation of food, ingredients or labelling for economic gain. The topic gained greater attention following major scandals such as the 2007 melamine crisis in China and the 2013 horsemeat scandal in Europe.

The GFSI (Global Food Safety Initiative) identified seven types of frauds as seen in the Figure 2.

Fraud risk management

Food fraud is complex to detect due to long supply chains and multiple actors. Each product can be at risk of several types of fraud simultaneously. Mitigation begins with understanding the nature of the potential fraud. Each fraud technique requires tailored detection methods.

Eurofins network of laboratories is a global leader in authenticity testing, offers advanced analytical technologies and specialist support to help safeguard your brand and protect consumers.

Our expertise in food integrity

Analytical approaches

Our laboratories apply both targeted and non-targeted methods:

Non-targeted screening controls the overall conformity of an ingredient through spectral fingerprinting vs. reference databases to detect anomalies and adulteration

• Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) Profiling

• Chromatography coupled with High Resolution Mass Spectrometry  LC/GC-HRMS

Targeted analysis focuses on known adulteration / fraud markers

• Composition analysis (wet chemistry, chromatography)

• Stable isotope analysis (SNIF-NMR, IRMS)

• Molecular biology methods

• Flavour profile analysis (GC-MS quantitative profiling, chiral analysis)

Specialist solutions

• Verifying declared geographical origin

• Explaining food spoilage using bacterial flora testing (NGS)

• Pathogen tracking using whole genome sequencing (WGS)

Technology spotlight: NMR profiling

Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) profiling delivers high-resolution spectral data, enabling integrity verification for a wide range of food and drink products.

Key features

• Liquid and solid sample analysis

• Reference models built from thousands of samples

• Simultaneous quantification of key components

• Expert interpretation with recommendations

Common applications include (but are not limited to)

• Wine: composition, origin, grape variety, vintage

• Honey: detection of added sugars, origin confirmation

• Coffee: variety checks, origin authentication

• Fruit juice and olive oil screening

View more about specific authenticity testing services below.

Submit and enquiry or call 0845 604 6740 to access food authenticity testing and fraud prevention consultancy services though your local Eurofins Food Testing UK laboratory.