Tag Archives: Botanical Adulterants Prevention Program

Susanne Kuehne, Decernis
Food Fraud Quick Bites

Plant A Seed For Real Pomegranate

By Susanne Kuehne
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Susanne Kuehne, Decernis
Pomegranate
Find records of fraud such as those discussed in this column and more in the Food Fraud Database, owned and operated by Decernis, a Food Safety Tech advertiser. Image credit: Susanne Kuehne

The Botanical Adulterants Prevention Program published a bulletin on the adulteration of pomegranate, with descriptions on methods on adulteration detection. Pomegranate fruit, juice, bark, extract and oil from seeds is believed to have anti-inflammatory, antiviral, antioxidant and even anti-tumor properties, and more. Over the past two decades, increasing demand for pomegranate products has instigated a wave of fraudulent activities. Added polyphenols, anthocyanins, sugar, other juices, water and ellagic acid are used as adulterants.

Resource

  1. Cardellina, J.H. and Gafner, S. (August 24, 2021). “Adulteration of Pomegranate Ingredients and Products”. Botanical Adulterants Prevention Program.
Susanne Kuehne, Decernis
Food Fraud Quick Bites

Olive Oil Detectives in the Lab

By Susanne Kuehne
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Susanne Kuehne, Decernis
Olive tree, food fraud
Find records of fraud such as those discussed in this column and more in the Food Fraud Database, owned and operated by Decernis, an advertiser in Food Safety Tech. Image credit: Susanne Kuehne

Canola oil, sunflower oil or soybean oil, colorants and low-quality olive oil, anyone? Olive oil, especially extra virgin olive oil adulteration is rampant, since the risk of getting caught is low and the profits are huge. A new expert-reviewed Laboratory Guidance Document on olive oil, published by the Botanical Adulterants Prevention Program (BAPP), lists a variety of laboratory methods at different levels of complexity, as well as the most common methods of adulteration. This Laboratory Guidance Document is an indispensable guide for regulatory and research personnel in the food, supplement and cosmetics industries.

Resource

  1. Mailer, R.J. and Gafner, S. (March 2021). “Botanical Adulterants Prevention Program Publishes Olive Oil Laboratory Guidance Document”. Botanical Adulterant Prevention Program.
Susanne Kuehne, Decernis
Food Fraud Quick Bites

Criminals in the Lab

By Susanne Kuehne
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Susanne Kuehne, Decernis
Testing methods, analysis
Find records of fraud such as those discussed in this column and more in the Food Fraud Database. Image credit: Susanne Kuehne

Herbs and botanical ingredients are a common target for fraud, especially during times of increased demand, for example caused by COVID-19. The Botanical Adulterants Prevention Program (BAPP) published an article describing some of the fraudulent methods that are used to intentionally create false results. The paper explains how deliberately manipulated plant extracts can fool lab methods like gas chromatography or high-performance liquid chromatography to produce results which make the analyzed product look legitimate.

Resource

  1. Nutraceuticals World. (October 30, 2020). “BAPP Publishes Article Detailing Adulteration Schemes Used to Fool Laboratory Analytical Methods”.
Susanne Kuehne, Decernis
Food Fraud Quick Bites

Listen To Your Elder(berries)

By Susanne Kuehne
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Susanne Kuehne, Decernis

As a tasty source of Vitamin C, B6, antioxidants, iron and more, elderberries have been a growing part of the latest health, immune boosting and wellness trends. Currently, the demand exceeds the supply for elderberries. For the past four to five years, this growth in popularity has been inviting adulteration of elderberry with other dark berries such as blueberries, as well as dyes, black rice and other materials. According to the Botanical Adulterants Prevention Program, such fraud can be detected by a variety of chromatographic methods.

Food fraud, elderberry
Find records of fraud such as those discussed in this column and more in the Food Fraud Database. Image credit: Susanne Kuehne.

Resource

  1. Schultz, H. (September 23, 2020) “Nature’s Way finds more evidence of widespread elderberry adulteration”. Nutra Ingredients-USA.
Susanne Kuehne, Decernis
Food Fraud Quick Bites

Not So Grape Expectations

By Susanne Kuehne
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Susanne Kuehne, Decernis
Grapeseed
Find records of fraud such as those discussed in this column and more in the Food Fraud Database. Image credit: Susanne Kuehne

Due to health benefits, grape seed extract has become more and more popular. Cheaper plant extracts, for example peanut skin extract, show very similar results with chromatographic methods, and therefore adulteration of grape seed extract may remain undetected. The American Botanical Council’s Botanical Adulterants Prevention Program released a laboratory guidance document that reviews analytical methods for detecting adulteration of grape seed extract with proanthocyanidin-rich extracts from other botanical sources.

Resource

  1. Kupina, S.A., et al. (2019). “Grape Seed Extract Laboratory Guidance Document”. American Botanical Council. Austin, TX.
Karen Everstine, Decernis
Food Fraud Quick Bites

Adulteration of Botanical Ingredients

By Karen Everstine, Ph.D.
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Karen Everstine, Decernis

Botanical ingredients are important to the food and beverage industries as well as the dietary supplements industry. Botanicals are plants or specific plant parts (leaves, roots, bark, berries, etc.) that are used for particular properties. These properties can be therapeutic or related to color, flavor or other attributes. Botanicals include extracts such as Ginkgo biloba, saw palmetto, and elderberry as well as herbs and spices used in cooking, essential oils, pomegranate juice and extracts, and olive oil. There is a substantial overlap between botanical products used in the herb and supplement industries and those used in foods and beverages. Many “conventional” foods and beverages include botanical extracts or other ingredients to advertise a therapeutic effect.

In 2014, FDA issued a final guidance for industry related to labeling of liquid dietary supplements (vs. beverages). FDA noted, in their rationale for the guidance, two trends:

“First, we have seen an increase in the marketing of beverages as dietary supplements, in spite of the fact that the packaging and labeling of many liquid products represent the products as conventional foods. Products that are represented as conventional foods do not meet the statutory definition of a dietary supplement…and must meet the regulatory requirements that apply to conventional foods.

Second, FDA has seen a growth in the marketplace of beverages and other conventional foods that contain novel ingredients, such as added botanical ingredients or their extracts. Some of these ingredients have not previously been used in conventional foods and may be unapproved food additives. In addition, ingredients that have been present in the food supply for many years are now being added to beverages and other conventional foods at levels in excess of their traditional use levels or in new beverages or other conventional foods. This trend raises questions regarding whether these ingredients are unapproved food additives when used at higher levels or under other new conditions of use. Some foods with novel ingredients also bear claims that misbrand the product or otherwise violate the FFDCA.”

The American Botanical Council (ABC) has been publishing information on the safe, responsible and effective use of botanicals since 1988, including the quarterly journal HerbalGram and a book of herb monographs The ABC Clinical Guide to Herbs. In order to help combat the increasing problem of adulteration in the industry, the Botanical Adulterants Prevention Program (BAPP) was launched in 2010 by ABC along with the American Herbal Pharmacopeia and the University of Mississippi National Center for Natural Products Research. The goal of BAPP is to educate members of the herbal and dietary supplement industry about ingredient and product adulteration through the publication of documents such as adulteration bulletins and laboratory guidance documents. The information in these documents helps ensure the identity, authenticity and safety of botanicals along the supply chain.

Karen Everstine will be discussing food fraud during the 2020 Food Safety Consortium Virtual Conference Series | An example of the Botanical Adulterants Prevention Bulletin for cranberry is seen in Figure 1. It includes a description of the species that can be labeled as cranberry in the United States, a brief description of the marketplace, information on potential adulterants in cranberry fruit extract and other cranberry products, and guidance on analytical methods to test cranberry products for adulteration.

Cranberry adulteration, Botanical Adulterants Bulletin
Figure 1 courtesy of Decernis and the Botanical Adulterants Bulletin.

Decernis has been working with the Botanical Adulterants Prevention Program (BAPP) to integrate links to their expert content into the Food Fraud Database (FFD). This will ensure our users can better develop ingredient specifications, manage risk, and protect their consumers by leveraging this content for food fraud and herbal ingredient fraud prevention. We are currently incorporating three types of BAPP documents into FFD:

  • Adulterants Bulletins. Information and links to these documents will be entered as Inference records in FFD. We are extracting ingredient and adulterant names (including Latin names as synonyms) from the document, assigning “Reasons for Adulteration,” and providing a link to the full document on the BAPP website.
  • Adulteration Reports. Information and links to these documents will also be entered as Inference records in FFD. We are extracting ingredient and adulterant names from the document, assigning “Reasons for Adulteration,” and providing a link to the full document on the BAPP website.
  • Laboratory Guidance documents. Information and links to these documents will be entered as both method record and inference records in FFD. We are extracting ingredient and adulterant names from the document, assigning “Reasons for Adulteration,” and providing a link to the full document on the BAPP website.

Decernis analysts are currently integrating this content into FFD, which will be uploaded to the system between now and early September.