Authenticity and quality of animal origin food investigated by stable-isotope ratio analysis.

Authentication of a food product is the procedure by which it is verified that the product matches the statements on the label, and that it conforms to what is established by regulations. This testing process includes analysis of the ingredients, determination of the geographical origin, and examination of the production methods. In particular, the use of rapid, effective and reliable analytical methods, when correctly applied to verify the authenticity and the traceability of the product, represents a valuable and irreplaceable tool for the authorities to carry out control functions. Tools and methodologies from scientific innovation and technological evolution can help to quickly locate particularly sophisticated frauds and adulterations. The feeding regime of livestock is a fundamental issue for the properties and safety of animal origin food, but this regime is often hidden from the consumer, making the zootechnical sector more prone to fraudulent practices. This review reports the results recently obtained in authentication of animal origin food by the application of stable-isotope ratio analysis, the most promising analytical technique in this field.

[1]  G. Castiglioni,et al.  Sistema Statistico Nazionale-Istituto Nazionale di Statistica. Rapporto Annuale. La situazione del Paese nel 2010, Istat, Roma, 2011. , 2011 .

[2]  K. Auerswald,et al.  Altitudinal gradients of grassland carbon and nitrogen isotope composition are recorded in the hair of grazers , 2007 .

[3]  F. Camin,et al.  Correlation between multielement stable isotope ratio and geographical origin in Peretta cows' milk cheese. , 2006, Journal of dairy science.

[4]  G. Haberhauer,et al.  The potential of multielement stable isotope analysis for regional origin assignment of butter , 2000 .

[5]  J. Bosset,et al.  Application of strontium isotope abundance ratios measured by MC-ICP-MS for food authentication , 2004 .

[6]  T. Korenaga,et al.  Stable carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen isotope analysis as a potential tool for verifying geographical origin of beef. , 2008, Analytica chimica acta.

[7]  M. Kreuzer,et al.  Is authentication of the geographic origin of poultry meat and dried beef improved by combining multiple trace element and oxygen isotope analysis? , 2008, Meat Science.

[8]  M. Kreuzer,et al.  Tracing the geographic origin of poultry meat and dried beef with oxygen and strontium isotope ratios , 2008 .

[9]  G. Sylvia,et al.  Organoleptic Qualities of Farmed and Wild Salmon , 1995 .

[10]  Alessandro Buccolieri,et al.  Characterisation of the geographical origin of buffalo milk and mozzarella cheese by means of analytical and spectroscopic determinations , 2005 .

[11]  C. Scrimgeour,et al.  Alteration of the carbon and nitrogen stable isotope composition of beef by substitution of grass silage with maize silage. , 2005, Rapid communications in mass spectrometry : RCM.

[12]  David De Jong,et al.  Detection of adulteration of commercial honey samples by the 13C/12C isotopic ratio , 2003 .

[13]  G. Lyon,et al.  Importance of body tissues as sources of nutrients for milk synthesis in the cow, using 13C as a marker , 1988, British Journal of Nutrition.

[14]  S. Ruth,et al.  An overview of analytical methods for determining the geographical origin of food products , 2008 .

[15]  Kwang-Sik Lee,et al.  Tracing the geographical origin of beefs being circulated in Korean markets based on stable isotopes. , 2010, Rapid communications in mass spectrometry : RCM.

[16]  P. Ritz,et al.  Milk characterization: effect of the breed , 2005 .

[17]  H. Casabianca,et al.  Combination of sugar analysis and stable isotope ratio mass spectrometry to detect the use of artificial sugars in royal jelly production , 2012, Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry.

[18]  Ana I Cabañero,et al.  Liquid chromatography coupled to isotope ratio mass spectrometry: a new perspective on honey adulteration detection. , 2006, Journal of agricultural and food chemistry.

[19]  Nives Ogrinc,et al.  Carbon and nitrogen natural stable isotopes in Slovene honey: adulteration and botanical and geographical aspects. , 2010, Journal of agricultural and food chemistry.

[20]  C. Scrimgeour,et al.  Using hooves for high-resolution isotopic reconstruction of bovine dietary history. , 2007, Rapid communications in mass spectrometry : RCM.

[21]  W. Pritzkow,et al.  C and N stable isotope variation in urine and milk of cattle depending on the diet , 2006, Analytical and bioanalytical chemistry.

[22]  Simon D. Kelly,et al.  Tracing the geographical origin of food: The application of multi-element and multi-isotope analysis , 2005 .

[23]  C. Scrimgeour,et al.  Experimental determination of dietary carbon turnover in bovine hair and hoof , 2007 .

[24]  P. Boeckx,et al.  Stable carbon isotope analysis of different tissues of beef animals in relation to their diet. , 2004, Rapid communications in mass spectrometry : RCM.

[25]  Yimin Wei,et al.  Stable C and N isotope ratio analysis for regional geographical traceability of cattle in China , 2010 .

[26]  S. Kelly,et al.  Multi-element (H,C,N,S) stable isotope characteristics of lamb meat from different European regions , 2007, Analytical and bioanalytical chemistry.

[27]  C. Ducatti,et al.  Traceability of animal byproducts in quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica) tissues using carbon (13C/12C) and nitrogen (15N/14N) stable isotopes , 2007 .

[28]  D. Phillips,et al.  Estimating the timing of diet shifts using stable isotopes , 2006, Oecologia.

[29]  M. Brescia,et al.  Geographical origin and breed discrimination of Apulian lamb meat samples by means of analytical and spectroscopic determinations. , 2005, Meat science.

[30]  D. Thomas,et al.  Stable carbon isotopes accurately predict diet selection by sheep fed mixtures of C3 annual pastures and saltbush or C4 perennial grasses , 2009 .

[31]  Michael Kreuzer,et al.  Geographic origin of meat—elements of an analytical approach to its authentication , 2005 .

[32]  L. Trinca,et al.  Traceability of bovine meat and bone meal in poultry by stable isotope analysis , 2006 .

[33]  R. Wehrens,et al.  H, C, N and S stable isotopes and mineral profiles to objectively guarantee the authenticity of grated hard cheeses. , 2012, Analytica chimica acta.

[34]  Carlos Ducatti,et al.  Seasonal variations in chemical composition and stable isotopes of farmed and wild Brazilian freshwater fish , 2010 .

[35]  M. Power,et al.  Use of stable isotopes to distinguish farmed from wild Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar , 2004 .

[36]  H. Förstel,et al.  Stable isotope variation as a tool to trace the authenticity of beef , 2004, Analytical and bioanalytical chemistry.

[37]  C. Ducatti,et al.  The use of stable isotopes for authentication of gadoid fish species , 2011 .

[38]  H. Schmidt,et al.  18O pattern and biosynthesis of natural plant products. , 2001, Phytochemistry.

[39]  R. Serrano,et al.  Stable isotope determination in wild and farmed gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata) tissues from the western Mediterranean. , 2007, Chemosphere.

[40]  R. Larcher,et al.  Elemental and isotopic characterisation of typical Italian alpine cheeses , 2011 .

[41]  S. Kelly,et al.  Verifying the geographical origin of beef: The application of multi-element isotope and trace element analysis , 2008 .

[42]  V. Moretti,et al.  Traceability Issues in Fishery and Aquaculture Products , 2004, Veterinary Research Communications.

[43]  P D Klein,et al.  Carbon kinetics of milk formation in Holstein cows in late lactation. , 1988, Journal of animal science.

[44]  K. Auerswald,et al.  Reconstruction of the isotopic history of animal diets by hair segmental analysis. , 2003, Rapid communications in mass spectrometry : RCM.

[45]  F. Monahan,et al.  Multielement isotope analysis of bovine muscle for determination of international geographical origin of meat. , 2011, Journal of agricultural and food chemistry.

[46]  Jean-Pierre Renou,et al.  Characterization of animal products according to geographic origin and feeding diet using nuclear magnetic resonance and isotope ratio mass spectrometry: cow milk , 2004 .

[47]  Luana Bontempo,et al.  Multielement stable isotope ratios (H, C, N, S) of honey from different European regions , 2010 .

[48]  F. Camin,et al.  H, C, N and O stable isotope characteristics of alpine forage, milk and cheese , 2012 .

[49]  J. Ehleringer,et al.  Short-term diet changes revealed using stable carbon isotopes in horse tail-hair , 2004 .

[50]  A. I. Ruiz-Matute,et al.  Carbohydrate composition of high-fructose corn syrups (HFCS) used for bee feeding: effect on honey composition. , 2010, Journal of agricultural and food chemistry.

[51]  C. Guillou,et al.  Authentication of farmed and wild turbot (Psetta maxima) by fatty acid and isotopic analyses combined with chemometrics. , 2008, Journal of agricultural and food chemistry.

[52]  S. Primrose,et al.  Food forensics: methods for determining the authenticity of foodstuffs , 2010 .

[53]  S. Hird,et al.  The use of stable carbon isotopes to authenticate claims that poultry have been corn-fed , 2010 .

[54]  Olaf Schmidt,et al.  Inferring the origin and dietary history of beef from C, N and S stable isotope ratio analysis , 2005 .

[55]  C. Scrimgeour,et al.  Three-dimensional growth of bovine hoof as recorded by carbon stable isotope ratios. , 2007, Rapid communications in mass spectrometry : RCM.

[56]  Olaf Schmidt,et al.  Beef authentication and retrospective dietary verification using stable isotope ratio analysis of bovine muscle and tail hair. , 2011, Journal of agricultural and food chemistry.

[57]  C. Guillou,et al.  Stable isotope ratio analysis as a tool to discriminate between rainbow trout (O. mykiss) fed diets based on plant or fish-meal proteins. , 2008, Rapid communications in mass spectrometry : RCM.

[58]  M. Perini,et al.  Influence of dietary composition on the carbon, nitrogen, oxygen and hydrogen stable isotope ratios of milk. , 2008, Rapid communications in mass spectrometry : RCM.

[59]  S. Prache.  Developing a diet authentication system from the composition of milk and meat in sheep: a review , 2007, The Journal of Agricultural Science.

[60]  Olaf Schmidt,et al.  Seasonal variation in the C, N and S stable isotope composition of retail organic and conventional Irish beef , 2008 .

[61]  Andreas Rossmann,et al.  DETERMINATION OF STABLE ISOTOPE RATIOS IN FOOD ANALYSIS , 2001 .

[62]  M. de la Guardia,et al.  Trace-element composition and stable-isotope ratio for discrimination of foods with Protected Designation of Origin , 2009 .

[63]  I. González-Martín,et al.  Use of isotope analysis to characterize meat fromIberian-breed swine. , 1999, Meat science.

[64]  M. Vanderklift,et al.  Sources of variation in consumer-diet δ15N enrichment: a meta-analysis , 2003, Oecologia.

[65]  A. Cornu,et al.  Relevance of isotopic and molecular biomarkers for the authentication of milk according to production zone and type of feeding of the cow. , 2007, Journal of agricultural and food chemistry.

[66]  C. Scrimgeour,et al.  Effect of age and food intake on dietary carbon turnover recorded in sheep wool. , 2008, Rapid communications in mass spectrometry : RCM.

[67]  J. Ehleringer,et al.  An experimental study of carbon-isotope fractionation between diet, hair, and feces of mammalian herbivores , 2003 .

[68]  Hiroshi Hata,et al.  Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis as a tool for inferring beef cattle feeding systems in Japan , 2012 .

[69]  S. Kelly,et al.  Intra-muscular and inter-muscular variation in carbon turnover of ovine muscles as recorded by stable isotope ratios , 2010 .

[70]  E. Ibáñez,et al.  New Analytical Techniques in Food Science , 2001, Critical reviews in food science and nutrition.

[71]  A. Gören,et al.  13C/12C pattern of honey from Turkey and determination of adulteration in commercially available honey samples using EA-IRMS , 2012 .

[72]  Antonio Sacco,et al.  Discrimination between Southern Italy and foreign milk samples using spectroscopic and analytical data , 2009 .

[73]  L. Martinelli,et al.  Barn vs. free-range chickens: Differences in their diets determined by stable isotopes , 2012 .

[74]  N. Ogrinc,et al.  Determination of authenticity, regional origin, and vintage of Slovenian wines using a combination of IRMS and SNIF-NMR analyses. , 2001, Journal of agricultural and food chemistry.

[75]  S. Kelly,et al.  Tissue turnover in ovine muscles and lipids as recorded by multiple (H, C, O, S) stable isotope ratios , 2011 .

[76]  E. Piasentier,et al.  Stable isotope ratio analysis for authentication of lamb meat. , 2003, Meat science.

[77]  H. Förstel.  The natural fingerprint of stable isotopes—use of IRMS to test food authenticity , 2007, Analytical and bioanalytical chemistry.

[78]  James E. Bron,et al.  Authenticating Production Origin of Gilthead Sea Bream (Sparus aurata) by Chemical and Isotopic Fingerprinting , 2007, Lipids.

[79]  I. González-Martín,et al.  Differentiation of dietary regimene of Iberian swine by means of isotopic analysis of carbon and sulphur in hepatic tissue. , 2001, Meat science.

[80]  K. Rogers.  Stable isotopes as a tool to differentiate eggs laid by caged, barn, free range, and organic hens. , 2009, Journal of agricultural and food chemistry.

[81]  Georg Haberhauer,et al.  Application of multielement stable isotope ratio analysis to the characterization of French, italian, and spanish cheeses. , 2004, Journal of agricultural and food chemistry.

[82]  C. Guillou,et al.  Stable isotopes to discriminate lambs fed herbage or concentrate both obtained from C(3) plants. , 2008, Rapid communications in mass spectrometry : RCM.

[83]  M. Horáček,et al.  Discrimination of Korean beef from beef of other origin by stable isotope measurements , 2010 .

[84]  F. Camin,et al.  Characterization of the geographical origin of Pecorino Sardo cheese by casein stable isotope ((13)c/(12)c and (15)n/(14)n) ratios and free amino acid ratios. , 2001, Journal of agricultural and food chemistry.

[85]  A. Andrew,et al.  Determining the geographic origin of milk in Australasia using multi-element stable isotope ratio analysis , 2007 .

[86]  K. Auerswald,et al.  Carbon and nitrogen stable isotope composition of cattle hair: ecological fingerprints of production systems? , 2005 .