Advances in the Identification of Adulterated Cereals and Cereal Products

Abstract This chapter addresses the most common occurrences of adulteration in cereal grains, the regulations in place by countries (including the United States, United Kingdom, Italy, India, and the European Union) to control this malpractice, and the methodologies by which detection and quantification of an adulterant are made. Adulteration is considered from the perspective of deliberate human activity rather than from natural occurrences of contamination by mold, insect, or environmental conditions. Specific attention is given to wheat flour or gluten adulterated with melamine or its derivatives, durum wheat semolina or flour adulterated with common wheat flour, Basmati rice adulterated with Basmati-like rice, and, finally, quantification of mixture proportions of waxy and conventional wheat. Attention is also focused on issues arising when the cereal itself is the adulterant, as in the case of gluten-free foods. Genetically modified organism detection or measurement is not addressed. Research of the past decade (2005–2014) is emphasized.