Rapid non-targeted methods to fight food frauds

The problem of food fraud is getting a rapidly increasing interest at global level. Food fraud costs the global food industry several billion dollars every year, negatively impacts public confidence in food producers and regulators, and can result in unfortunate public health consequences. Fighting food fraud is a very complicated area caused by several elements. The possibility to detect fraudulent activities depends on the type of fraud, ranging from altered composition and labelling, geographic origin, mixtures and mimicking supplements to claims of sustainable production or unethical actions. Different types of fraud request the application of different analytical methods based on targeted or non-targeted approaches. Although targeted methods Non-targeted methods have gained recent interest due to their rapidity and high potential in authentication processes aiming at a comprehensive characterization of complex food matrices. There is a high demand of a process of harmonization and standardization of the methods to be used for routine analysis and official control. Potential and limitations of non-targeted methods for authentication of food will be presented. This presentation will give also an overview of the rapid non-targeted methodologies commonly used at ISPA-CNR based on DART-MS, NIR, MS-nose and NMR technologies to assess food authenticity.