Tag Archives: DNA barcode

Susanne Kuehne, Decernis
Food Fraud Quick Bites

Down Under Brings Up Food Fraud

By Susanne Kuehne
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Susanne Kuehne, Decernis
Food fraud, australia
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

Australia’s agricultural and food sectors are significant contributors to the economy. To protect Australia’s reputation as a supplier of high-quality items, producers along the supply chain now have technologies and tools available to mitigate fraudulent food products. This report from Deakin University lists fraudulent practices, and in addition mentions technical solutions for all steps along the supply chain. The report suggests to improve fraud documentation, authenticity testing, DNA barcode reference databases and more, and points out an urgent need for a more concerted effort in the Australian food industry overall.

Resource

  1. Smith, M., et al. (November 2021). “Product Fraud: Impacts on Australian agriculture, fisheries and forestry industries”. Agrifutures Australia.
Susanne Kuehne, Decernis
Food Fraud Quick Bites

Marzipan Or Persipan, That’s the Question

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

Both Prunus species produce similar flavor and sensory profiles, but have significantly different costs—the 50% cheaper apricot kernels are sometimes used as an adulterant, replacing almonds in products such as marzipan, almond oil or almond powder. A polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method shows that the DNA barcode of almond shows significant differences from other Prunus species and can therefore be used to detect adulteration of almond products.

Resource

  1. Uncu, A.O. (March 2, 2020). “A trnH-psbA barcode genotyping assay for the detection of common apricot (Prunus armeniaca L.) adulteration in almond (Prunus dulcis Mill.)” Retrieved from Taylor & Francis Online.