This kind of lead must weigh heavily on the minds of food and beverage fraudsters. The quantity of lead isotopes and elemental lead can be used to determine the geographic origin and vintage of a wine and therefore determine whether the wine is from a specific location. The isotopic profiles of genuine Bordeaux wines were compared to suspicious bottling. The fake wines were clearly identified to be from different locations and vintages than claimed on the labels.

Resources

1. Taylor, P. (September 16, 2019). “Lab technique spots fake Bordeaux wines”. Securing Industry.
2. Epova, E. (January 15, 2020). “Potential of lead elemental and isotopic signatures for authenticity and geographical origin of Bordeaux wines”. Food Chemistry.