Exploring Strategies to Mitigate the Lightness Effect on the Prediction of Soybean Oil Content in Blends of Olive and Avocado Oil Using Smartphone Digital Image Colorimetry.

Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) and avocado oil (AVO) are recognized for their unique sensory characteristics and bioactive compounds. Declared blends with other vegetable oils are legal, but undeclared mixing is a common type of fraud that can affect product quality and commercialization. In this sense, this study explored strategies to mitigate the influence of lighting in order to make digital image colorimetry (DIC) using a smartphone more robust and reliable for predicting the soybean oil content in EVOO and AVO blends. Calibration models were obtained by multiple linear regression using the images' RGB values. Corrections based on illuminance and white reference were evaluated to mitigate the lightness effect and improve the method's robustness and generalization capability. Lastly, the prediction of the built model from data obtained using a distinct smartphone was assessed. The results showed models with good predictive capacities, R2 > 0.9. Generally, models solely based on GB values showed better predictive performances. The illuminance corrections and blank subtraction improved the predictions of EVOO and AVO samples, respectively, for image acquisition from distinct smartphones and lighting conditions as evaluated by external validation. It was concluded that adequate data preprocessing enables DIC using a smartphone to be a reliable method for analyzing oil blends, minimizing the effects of variability in lighting and imaging conditions and making it a potential technique for oil quality assurance.

Fraude alimentario: Pasado, presente y futuro

La adulteración y el fraude de productos alimenticios son tan antiguos como los sistemas de procesamiento y producción de alimentos, sin embargo, en la actualidad son cada vez más frecuentes. Con la globalización y los sistemas de producción y distribución de alimentos cada día más complejos, la adulteración puede ocurrir en distintos puntos de la cadena alimentaria y tener un impacto de gran alcance, e incluso, consecuencias adversas para la salud de las personas. Los enfoques regulatorios de la comunidad internacional para enfrentar y resolver el fraude alimentario están dispersos y en constantes ajustes. Se necesita un enfoque colectivo y coordinado para identificar a todos los interesados en la cadena de suministro de alimentos, calificarlos y certificarlos, excluir a aquellos que no cumplan con los estándares adecuados y rastrear los alimentos en tiempo real. Este artículo de actualización revisará conceptos claves asociados a la integridad alimentaria, historia del fraude alimentario y episodios de fraude alimentario de connotación pública en el mundo y en Chile, herramientas analíticas y alimentos más vulnerables al fraude, reglamentos y nuevas acciones en el mundo y en Chile para enfrentar la inocuidad y el riesgo de fraude alimentario.

Food adulteration and food fraud is as old as food production and processing however, it is increasingly prevalent today. With globalization and increasingly complex food production and distribution systems, adulteration can occur at different points in the food chain and may have far-reaching impacts and even adverse consequences for human health. The international community's regulatory approaches to confronting and resolving food fraud are scattered and in constant adjustment. A collective and coordinated approach is needed to identify all stakeholders in the food supply chain, certify and qualify them, exclude those who do not meet applicable standards, and trace food in real time. This update provides definitions and background on key concepts associated with food integrity, episodes of food fraud in Chile and the world, main foods vulnerable to food fraud, common fraud practices and analytical techniques, regulations and new actions in Chile and the world to face food safety and the risk of food fraud.

Rapid and non-destructive cinnamon authentication by NIR-hyperspectral imaging and classification chemometrics tools.

Cinnamon is a valuable aromatic spice widely used in pharmaceutical and food industry. Commonly, two-cinnamon species are available in the market, Cinnamomum verum (true cinnamon), cropped only in Sri Lanka, and Cinnamomum cassia (false cinnamon), cropped in different geographical origins. Thus, this work aimed to develop classification models based on NIR-hyperspectral imaging (NIR-HSI) coupled to chemometrics to classify C. verum and C. cassia sticks. First, principal component analysis (PCA) was applied to explore hyperspectral images. Scores surface displayed the high similarity between species supported by comparable macronutrient concentration. PC3 allowed better class differentiation compared to PC1 and PC2, with loadings exhibiting peaks related to phenolics/aromatics compounds, such as coumarin (C. cassia) or catechin (C. verum). Partial least square discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) and Support vector machine (SVM) reached similar performance to classify samples according to origin, with error = 3.3 % and accuracy = 96.7 %. A permutation test with p < 0.05 validated PLS-DA predictions have real spectral data dependency, and they are not result of chance. Pixel-wise (approach A) and sample-wise (approach B, C and D) classification maps reached a correct classification rate (CCR) of 98.3 % for C. verum and 100 % for C. cassia. NIR-HSI supported by classification chemometrics tools can be used as reliable analytical method for cinnamon authentication.

Authenticity under threat: grated Parmesan cheese sold in Brazil.

This research communication depicts the quality and authenticity of grated Parmesan cheese sold in Brazil, with novel emphasis on ripening time. The sampling included all brands manufactured and packed at Brazilian dairy plants under federal inspection and sold in Londrina between June and September 2017. A total of 24 samples were analyzed (3 batches of 8 brands) for microbiological and compositional characteristics, including urea-PAGE electrophoresis for the quantitative determination of the milk proteins. About 80% of the samples were insufficiently ripened and 32% with low-fat content. Faced with these economically motivated food frauds, the authenticity of grated Parmesan in Brazil may be under threat. It is high recommended that future surveys and regulatory agencies go further than microbiological assessment, including and emphasizing the ripening time as the main parameter of grated Parmesan cheese.

Variable selection in the chemometric treatment of food data: A tutorial review.

Food analysis covers aspects of quality and detection of possible frauds to ensure the integrity of the food. The arsenal of analytical instruments available for food analysis is broad and allows the generation of a large volume of information per sample. But this instrumental information may not yet give the desired answer; it must be processed to provide a final answer for decision making. The possibility of discarding non-informative and/or redundant signals can lead to models of better accuracy, robustness, and chemical interpretability, in line with the principle of parsimony. Thus, in this tutorial review, we cover aspects of variable selection in food analysis, including definitions, theoretical aspects of variable selection, and case studies showing the advantages of variable selection-based models concerning the use of a wide range of non-informative and redundant instrumental information in the analysis of food matrices.

Honey authentication in terms of its adulteration with sugar syrups using UV-Vis spectroscopy and one-class classifiers.

This work proposes the use of UV-Vis spectroscopy and one-class classifiers to authenticate honey in terms of their individual and simultaneous adulterations with corn syrup, agave syrup, and sugarcane molasses. Then, spectra of aqueous authentic (n = 73) and adulterated (n = 162) honey samples were recorded. Before the construction of OC-PLS and DD-SIMCA models, different pre-processing techniques were used to removed baseline shifts. The best result obtained by DD-SIMCA using offset correction, correctly classifying all the samples in the test set. Therefore, the proposed methodology can be used as a promising tool to authenticate honey and prevent fraudulent labeling, affording security to consumers and providing an alternative to regulatory agencies. Moreover, it avoids laborious sample preparation and additional operational costs, since the analytical information is acquired using a routine instrumental technique, without the need for any sample preparation step, other than dilution of the samples in water alone.

Non-destructive authentication of Gourmet ground roasted coffees using NIR spectroscopy and digital images.

The growing demand for excellent-quality coffees allied with their symbolic aestheticization that add value to the products favor the adulteration practices and consequently economic losses. So, this work proposes the suitability of NIR spectroscopy and Digital Images (from CACHAS) coupled with one-class classification methods for the non-destructive authentication of Gourmet ground roasted coffees. For this, Gourmet coffees (n = 44) were discriminated from Traditional (n = 36) and Superior (n = 10) by directly analyzing their powder without any sample preparation. Then, OC-PLS and dd-SIMCA were used to construct the models. dd-SIMCA using offset correction for NIR and RGB histogram for CACHAS achieved the best results, correctly recognizing all the 90 samples in both the training and test sets. Therefore, the proposed methodologies can be useful for both the consumers and regulatory agencies because it confirms the elevated standards of excellence of Brazilian specialty coffees, preventing fraudulent labeling, besides following the Principles of Green Analytical Chemistry.

Food defense: Perceptions and attitudes of Brazilian dairy companies.

This study aimed to evaluate the perception of Brazilian dairy processors (n = 31) concerning food defense. The results showed that respondents consider the implementation of control procedures related to facilities, products, materials, and individuals as important measures in food defense. The higher agreement rates (strongly agreed + slightly agreed) of the companies in relation to the perception of food defense were 84% for external security, followed by personnel security (82%), generalities (81%), and internal security (74%). Thus, protecting facilities and controlling the traffic flow were considered to be the most important actions under the participants' perspectives. Employee satisfaction and identification of end products and raw materials are also considered relevant in the food defense program. Although food defense is not a formal requirement in Brazilian law, the results show that there is adequate awareness of this topic by the Brazilian dairy companies.

Evaluación del contenido nutricional de productos lácteos en programa de alimentación venezolano / Evaluation of the nutritional content of dairy products in the Venezuelan food program

En Venezuela se distribuyen productos lácteos en polvo a través de los Comité Locales de Abastecimiento y Producción (CLAP). Con el objetivo de evaluar la composición nutricional de catorce marcas de productos lácteos provenientes de industrias mexicanas y distribuidos en Venezuela, se realizó un estudio descriptivo y transversal, con muestreo a conveniencia de 14 marcas de lácteos obtenidas en hogares beneficiados del área metropolitana de Caracas-Venezuela. Se cotejó la información presentada en el rotulado del producto y se efectuó un análisis químico de la composición nutricional. Los valores obtenidos se compararon utilizando como referencia a la norma COVENIN. En el etiquetado se encontró que sólo 2 marcas se denominan producto lácteo y el 43% de las marcas expresan el mismo contenido nutricional en el rótulo. En la analítica química se encontró inexactitud con la información presentada en el etiquetado nutricional. El análisis de componentes principales seguido de un conglomerado jerárquico permitió diferenciar 4 clúster o grupos: 2 reales y 2 ideales. La mayoría de los productos analizados son significativamente más altos en carbohidratos y sodio (p<0,05), además de bajos en proteínas y calcio (p<0,05). En conclusión, todas las muestras evaluadas incumplen la normativa correspondiente, al presentar irregularidades en la denominación del producto e informar valores que no se corresponden con el contenido nutricional resultante de los análisis químicos(AU)

In Venezuela, powdered milk products are distributed through the Local Supply and Production Committee (CLAP). The objective was to evaluate the nutritional composition of fourteen brands of dairy products from Mexican industries distributed in Venezuela, a descriptive and cross-sectional study was conducted, with convenience sampling of 14 brands of dairy products obtained in households benefiting from the Caracas Metropolitan area - Venezuela. The information presented in the product labeling was checked and a chemical analysis of the nutritional composition was performed. The values obtained were compared using the COVENIN standard as a reference. In the labeling, it was found that only 2 brands are called dairy products and 43% of the brands express the same nutritional content on the label. The chemical analysis showed inaccuracy with the information presented in the nutritional labeling. The analysis of principal components followed by a hierarchical conglomerate allowed us to differentiate 4 clusters or groups: 2 real and 2 ideal. Most of the products analyzed are significantly higher in carbohydrates and sodium (p <0.05), as well as low in protein and calcium (p <0.05). In conclusion, all the samples evaluated fail to comply with the corresponding regulations, presenting irregularities in the product name and reporting values that do not correspond to the nutritional content resulting from chemical analyzes(AU)

Economically Motivated Food Fraud and Adulteration in Brazil: Incidents and Alternatives to Minimize Occurrence.

Brazil is one of the world's largest food producers. Adulteration of foods is often reported and represent an important potential threat to food safety. Because of this, reduction of the vulnerability of foods to adulteration is of high priority to Brazil. This study analyzes economically motivated food fraud and adulterations in Brazil between 2007 and 2017, based on academic journal reports. In addition, alternatives are proposed to minimize these incidents through good practices, traceability systems and the development of methods to detect food fraud and adulteration. Complex supply chains for foods of animal origin, such as milk and dairy products, were the main targets of food fraud and adulterations. Other products prone to fraudulent activities were vegetable oils, especially olive oil, which are high value products. Meat and fish, as well as their respective by-products, were also involved in some food fraud and adulteration, especially substitution. Cases of extraneous ingredient addition were also reported in the coffee and tea sectors. Comprehensive food fraud and adulteration prevention requires the enforcement of regulatory systems, increased sampling and monitoring, training of food producers and handlers, and development of precise, rapid, and cost-effective methods of fraud detection. The availability of robust methods to identify the chemical constituents of foods could be a decisive step, both to detect and prevent fraud in producer countries and to open up new markets to these products. The results of this study can be used to analyze food safety risks and prioritize target areas for food research and policy-making in order to enforce food safety regulations in Brazil. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: A food fraud and adulteration review was conducted based on scientific literature in Brazil. Milk and its products were the main targets of food fraud and adulterations. Food fraud and adulteration causes and suggestions for good practice are presented. The results can be used to analyze food safety and protect consumer rights.

Determination of main fruits in adulterated nectars by ATR-FTIR spectroscopy combined with multivariate calibration and variable selection methods.

Grape, orange, peach and passion fruit nectars were formulated and adulterated by dilution with syrup, apple and cashew juices at 10 levels for each adulterant. Attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform mid infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectra were obtained. Partial least squares (PLS) multivariate calibration models allied to different variable selection methods, such as interval partial least squares (iPLS), ordered predictors selection (OPS) and genetic algorithm (GA), were used to quantify the main fruits. PLS improved by iPLS-OPS variable selection showed the highest predictive capacity to quantify the main fruit contents. The selected variables in the final models varied from 72 to 100; the root mean square errors of prediction were estimated from 0.5 to 2.6%; the correlation coefficients of prediction ranged from 0.948 to 0.990; and, the mean relative errors of prediction varied from 3.0 to 6.7%. All of the developed models were validated.