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Food fraud, the sale of goods that have in some way been mislabelled or tampered with, is an increasing concern, with a number of high profile documented incidents in recent years. These recent incidents and their scope show that there are gaps in the food chain where food authentication methods are not applied or otherwise not sufficient and more accessible detection methods would be beneficial. This paper investigates the utility of affordable and portable visible range spectroscopy hardware with partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) when applied to the differentiation of apple types and organic status. This method has the advantage that it is accessible throughout the supply chain, including at the consumer level. Scans were acquired of 132 apples of three types, half of which are organic and the remaining non-organic. The scans were preprocessed with zero correction, normalisation and smoothing. Two tests were used to determine accuracy, the first using 10-fold cross-validation and the second using a test set collected in different ambient conditions. Overall, the system achieved an accuracy of 94% when predicting the type of apple and 66% when predicting the organic status. Additionally, the resulting models were analysed to find the regions of the spectrum that had the most significance. Then, the accuracy when using three-channel information (RGB) is presented and shows the improvement provided by spectroscopic data.

Background: There is a need for authentication tools in order to verify the existing certification system. Recently, markers for analytical authentication of organic products were evaluated. Herein, crystallization with additives was described as an interesting fingerprint approach which needs further evidence, based on a standardized method and well-documented sample origin., Results: The fingerprint of wheat cultivars from a controlled field trial is generated from structure analysis variables of crystal patterns. Method performance was tested on factors such as crystallization chamber, day of experiment and region of interest of the patterns. Two different organic treatments and two different treatments of the non-organic regime can be grouped together in each of three consecutive seasons. When the k-nearest-neighbor classification method was applied, approximately 84% of Runal samples and 95% of Titlis samples were classified correctly into organic and non-organic origin using cross-validation., Conclusion: Crystallization with additive offers an interesting complementary fingerprint method for organic wheat samples. When the method is applied to winter wheat from the DOK trial, organic and non-organic treated samples can be differentiated significantly based on pattern recognition. Therefore crystallization with additives seems to be a promising tool in organic wheat authentication., (© 2014 Society of Chemical Industry.)

The consumption of brassica sprouts as raw vegetables provides a fair amount of glucosinolates (GLs) and active plant myrosinase, which enables the breakdown of GLs into health-promoting isothiocyanates (ITCs). This study reports the determination of the main constituents related to human health found in edible sprouts of two Brassica oleracea varieties, broccoli and Tuscan black kale, and two Raphanus sativus varieties, Daikon and Sango. Radish sprouts exhibited the highest ability to produce ITCs, with Daikon showing the greatest level of conversion of GLs into bioactive ITCs (96.5%), followed by Sango (90.0%). Tuscan black kale gave a value of 68.5%, whereas broccoli displayed the lowest with 18.7%. ITCs were not the exclusive GL breakdown products in the two B. oleracea varieties, since nitriles were also produced, thus accounting for the lower conversion observed. Measuring the release of plant ITCs is a valuable tool in predicting the potential level of exposure to these bioactive compounds after the consumption of raw brassica sprouts., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and flow injection electrospray ionization with ion trap mass spectrometry (FIMS) fingerprints combined with principal component analysis (PCA) were examined for their potential in differentiating commercial organic and conventional sage samples. The individual components in the sage samples were also characterized with an ultraperformance liquid chromatograph with a quadrupole-time-of-flight mass spectrometer (UPLC Q-TOF MS). The results suggested that both HPLC and FIMS fingerprints combined with PCA could differentiate organic and conventional sage samples effectively. FIMS may serve as a quick test capable of distinguishing organic and conventional sages in 1 min and could potentially be developed for high-throughput applications, whereas HPLC fingerprints could provide more chemical composition information with a longer analytical time.

Reliable and valid measures of local food environments are needed to more fully understand the relationship between these environments and health and identify potential intervention points to improve access to, and the availability of, healthy foods. These measures also inform policy making, including the zoning of food outlets and food labelling/information requirements. A literature review was undertaken using health, behavioural and social sciences, nutrition and public health databases and grey literature, to determine available information on the measurement of local food environments. Included articles were those measuring aspects of food environments published from 2000 to 2010. A range of tools and methods are available to measure different components of food environments. Those focusing on community nutrition environments record the number, type and location of food outlets. The tools that focus on the consumer nutrition environment incorporate other factors, such as available food and beverage products, their price and quality, and any promotions or information to prompt consumers to make purchasing decisions. A summary and critique of these measures are provided., (Crown Copyright © 2011. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

To obtain basic knowledge about the relationship between the application of organic fertilizers and the δ15N values of leaves of organically grown tea plants, annual variations in the δ15N values of the tea leaves were investigated. Although variations did not immediately arise after the application of organic fertilizers, differences in the δ15N values between organic and conventional cultivations appeared basically after three years from the beginning of the organic cultivation except when an organic fertilizer with a low δ15N value was applied, and the variation depended on the δ15N values of the fertilizers. In addition, the effectiveness of the δ15N values as a practical indicator of organic teas was examined. The tea leaves collected from organic farms did not always have higher δ15N values than the commercially available nonorganic teas. This result demonstrates that it is not easy to discriminate organic teas from nonorganic teas simply by their δ15N values.

The origin and authenticity of feed for laying hens is an important and fraud-susceptible aspect in the production of organic eggs. Chemical fingerprinting in combination with chemometric methods is increasingly used in conjunction with administrative controls to verify and safeguard the authenticity of food commodities. On the basis of fatty acid fingerprinting data of 36 organic and 60 conventional feeds, we have developed a chemometric classification model to discriminate between organic and conventional chicken feed. A two-factor partial least squares-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) model was developed using 70% of the original data. External validation of the model with the remaining 30% of the data showed that all of the organic feeds and 90% of the conventional feeds (18 of 20) were correctly identified by the model. These results indicate that the PLS-DA model developed in this study could be routinely used to verify the identity of unknown or suspicious feed for laying hens.

The aim of this study was to obtain preliminary data on δ(15)N values in organically and conventionally grown vegetables available on the Slovenian market to determine whether there are any characteristic differences in δ(15)N values, which could be used as a marker to differentiate between organically and conventionally grown vegetables, namely vegetables grown with synthetic or organic nitrogen fertilisers. Therefore, 14 different varieties of organically and conventionally grown vegetables were analysed. The results obtained show clear differences in mean δ(15)N values between organically and conventionally grown vegetables (up to 6.3\permil). However, due to overlapping results, it was not possible to differentiate between organically and conventionally grown counterparts in eight vegetable varieties, despite the differences in mean δ(15)N values. The results obtained indicate that the method has several limitations. Hence, δ(15)N could be a reliable indicator for organic production, but nevertheless, the conclusion has to be validated by background information.

The merits and demerits of food with health claims for the prevention of metabolic syndrome (MS) are reviewed. One major underlying cause of MS is obesity. Diet and lifestyle changes remain the cornerstones of therapy for obesity, but resulting weight loss is often small and long-term success is extremely uncommon and disappointing. Many anti-obesity drugs have been associated with unintended therapeutic outcomes. Currently, only one drug (mazindol) is approved in Japan for short-term treatment of individuals with a BMI over 35 kg/m(2). Treatment with orlistat with dietary modification, caffeine, or protein supplementation; consuming a low-fat diet; adherence to physical activity routines; prolonged contact with participants; problem-solving therapy; and the alternative treatment of acupressure are efficacious in reducing weight regain after weight loss treatment. Because obesity is highly stigmatized, any effective treatment should be made available to improve quality of life and self-image. Therefore, it is necessary to provide information to consumers through the media concerning 1) basic knowledge about health foods and laws concerning them, 2) scientifically based information on safety/effectiveness of health foods and food elements, and 3) reports on health disturbances associated with health foods around the world.

The recent proliferation of standards and labels for organic, fair-trade, locally produced, and healthy food products risks creating confusion among consumers. This study presents a standardized approach to developing a comprehensive sustainability label that incorporates ecological, economic, and social values. The methodology is based on an extension of modular life-cycle assessment to non-environmental sustainability criteria. Interviews with a wide range of experts (n=65) and a consumer survey (n=233) were conducted to analyze the feasibility and potential effectiveness of the approach. Responses indicated that a comprehensive sustainability label could considerably influence consumption patterns and facilitate cross-product comparisons., (Copyright © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC)

Understanding which specific foods easily come to mind when individuals consider categories of dietary behavior may help explain observed patterns of dietary intake. We examined which specific behavioral exemplars are most easily retrieved from memory when individuals consider broad dietary categories. Participants reported specific foods that come to mind when considering high fat foods, low fat foods, and fruits/vegetables. Salient foods differed from those suggested in dietary guidelines, were distinct from those known to be major diet components, and showed a non-trivial number of incorrect responses. These findings have implications for understanding how individuals respond to dietary guidelines and devising effective intervention strategies.

Research comparing the biochemical composition of wheat grains from organic or conventional agriculture has used the targeted analytical approach. To obtain a more comprehensive record of the food's composition, we employed protein profiling techniques. Levels of 1049 proteins were recorded in wheat grains (Triticum aestivum L., cv. Titlis) of two growing seasons from a rigorously controlled field trial in Switzerland, containing organic and conventional plots. Levels of 25 proteins were different between organic and conventional wheat in both years. Storage proteins, enzymes of carbohydrate metabolism, a peroxidase, and proteins of unknown function were affected by the agricultural regime. Total protein content was lower in organic wheat. We consider these differences negligible with regard to nutrition in an average diet and propose that food quality of conventional and organic wheat grown in the field trial was equal. Applying various filters and calculations, one of which takes seasonal influences into account, 16 of the 25 proteins with different levels in organic and conventional wheat were retained. These 16 "diagnostic" proteins have the potential to afford a signature to prove authenticity of organic wheat.

Objective: To consider the use of systematic methods for categorising foods according to their nutritional quality ('nutrient profiling') as a strategy for promoting public health through better dietary choices., Methods: We describe and discuss several well-developed approaches for categorising foods using nutrient profiling, primarily in the area of food labelling and also with respect to advertising controls. The best approach should be able to summarise and synthesise key nutritional dimensions (such as sugar, fat and salt content, energy density and portion size) in a manner that is easily applied across a variety of products, is understandable to users and can be strictly defined for regulatory purposes., Results: Schemes that provide relative comparisons within food categories may have limited use, especially for foods that are not easily categorised. Most nutrient-profiling schemes do not clearly identify less-healthy foods, but are used to attract consumers towards products with supposedly better profiles. The scheme used in the UK to underpin the colour-coded 'traffic light' signalling on food labels, and the one used by the UK broadcasting regulator Ofcom to limit advertising to children, together represent the most developed use of nutrient profiling in government policy-making, and may have wider utility., Conclusion: Nutrient profiling as a method for categorising foods according to nutritional quality is both feasible and practical and can support a number of public health-related initiatives. The development of nutrient profiling is a desirable step in support of strategies to tackle obesity and other non-communicable diseases. A uniform approach to nutrient profiling will help consumers, manufacturers and retailers in Europe.

Purpose: The symbolic meanings that youth associate with food were explored, as were barriers to accessing healthy foods., Methods: Qualitative methods and a constructivist approach were employed, and data were collected through semi-structured interviews and a card-sorting activity. Thirteen adolescents aged 13 to 15 (seven girls, six boys) were recruited through public schools and posters displayed in community settings. Thematic analytical techniques were used to analyze the data., Results: Participants classified foods into healthy and unhealthy groups, as well as into an "in-between" group that included nutritionally enhanced foods. Healthy and unhealthy foods were linked to a variety of physical, social, and emotional meanings. Some meanings associated with foods were also discussed in gendered terms, and numerous barriers to accessing healthy foods were reported., Conclusions: Foods hold multiple meanings for youth. Programs and policies aimed at fostering healthy eating need to capitalize on positive associations related to healthy foods. Negative associations related to healthy foods need to be acknowledged and strategies developed to recast such linkages. Likewise, the positive associations linked to unhealthy foods need to be addressed. Strategies also need to be developed to ensure access to healthy foods in all settings, especially within schools and community leisure settings.

An isotopic study was performed on nine varieties of organically and conventionally grown vegetables from an organic food market and a chain supermarket in New Zealand. The main aim of the study was to assess the applicability of stable nitrogen isotopes as a screening tool to differentiate between organic and conventional growing conditions of various vegetable types sampled directly off supermarket shelves. This could be further used as the basis of a simple authentication tool to detect noncompliant organic farming practices and false labeling of organic produce. In this study, nitrogen isotopes are found to be an excellent way of identifying faster growing organic vegetables (maturity time to harvest of <80 days), as these vegetables tend to be significantly more enriched in (15)N than conventionally grown vegetables and natural soil N. For slower growing organic produce (maturity time to harvest of >80 days), more information would be required to understand isotopic variations and fractionation effects between vegetables and soil over time as the technique does not discriminate organic from conventional regimens for these vegetables with as much certainty.

Objective: To assess the validity of nutrient profiling Model WXYfm - developed for the purpose of regulating the promotion of 'less healthy' foods to children. The model ranks foods according to their healthiness and categorises foods into 'healthier' and 'less healthy' foods., Design: Convergent and discriminant validity was tested by comparing the way Model WXYfm categorises foods with the way the UK's national food guide - the Balance of Good Health (BGH) - categorises foods. Construct validity was assessed by testing a hypothesis relating the constructs of 'healthiness' of foods (as measured by Model WXYfm) and the 'healthiness' of diets (measured using the Diet Quality Index) and assessing whether this hypothesis was confirmed or refuted by using data on the dietary patterns of subjects (n = 1117) of the National Diet and Nutrition Survey of adults carried out in Great Britain in 2000-01., Results: Model WXYfm showed good convergent and discriminant validity: the level of agreement between the way the model categorises foods and the way the BGH categorises foods was good (kappa = 0.69). Model WXYfm also showed good construct validity: the energy intake from 'less healthy' foods amongst subjects with the least healthy diets was nearly twice the energy intake from 'less healthy' foods amongst the subjects with the healthiest diets., Conclusions: Model WXYfm demonstrated good validity in categorising foods in a way that is related to the healthiness of diets both recommended and achieved. The methods for assessing the validity of a nutrient profile model used in this paper have not, to our knowledge, been used before.

On December 18, 2002, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced the Consumer Health Information for Better Nutrition Initiative. The initiative's goal is to make available more and better information about conventional foods and dietary supplements to help Americans improve their health and reduce risk of disease by making sound dietary decisions. It included a rating system to assess the "weight of the publicly available evidence." It assigns one of four ranked levels to the claim thus resulting in qualified health claims. Two phases of research were conducted by the International Food Information Council (IFIC) Foundation. Qualitative research to assess consumer understanding, vocabulary, and familiarity with claims helped with the design and orientation of the second quantitative research phase. The quantitative phase employed a Web-based survey. The claim formats included: report card graphic, report card text, embedded claim text, point-counterpoint, structure/function claim, and nutrient content claim. Respondents were asked to rate the product for perceived strength of scientific evidence provided to support the claim, and questions about the product's perceived healthfulness, quality, safety, and purchase intent. Consumers found it difficult to discriminate across four levels and showed inclination to project the scientific validity grade onto other product attributes. Consumers showed preference for simpler messages.

This paper reviews recent consumer studies evaluating comprehension of a novel form of food labeling, qualified health claims, now permitted by FDA. The joint goals of qualified health claims are to encourage firms to make accurate, science-based claims about the health benefits of their products while helping consumers prevent disease and improve their health through sound dietary decisions using enhanced nutrition information. This paper examines whether consumers can differentiate between multiple levels of health claims and determines if a front label visual aid helps consumer understanding. Results of experimental consumer attitude studies are presented which suggest that people do not perceive significant differences between the three levels of qualified claims and traditional (unqualified or SSA) health claims. An additional experiment suggests that a visual aid (report card) may be an important device to help consumers distinguish between the levels of health claims. However, thought-listing data suggests that consumers use the report card to draw inferences about overall product quality rather than the strength of scientific evidence supporting the health claim. Implications of these findings for the future regulatory oversight and marketing of functional food products are discussed.

Objectives: This paper describes the development of an online questionnaire for testing nutrition professionals' perceptions of the 'healthiness' of individual foods and the results of administering that questionnaire. The questionnaire was designed to produce a standard ranking of foods that can be used as a tool for testing nutrient profile models., Design: The questionnaire asked respondents to categorise 40 foods (from a master list of 120) in one of six positions, ranging from less to more healthy. The 120 foods were selected to be representative of the British diet. The questionnaire was sent via email to nutrition professionals from the British Dietetic Association and the (British) Nutrition Society., Results: Eight hundred and fifty responses were received. These responses were used to rank the 120 foods by the average score which they received from the nutrition professionals. A regression analysis was also carried out to examine the relationship between the scores awarded by the nutrition professionals and various features of the foods: their nutritional content, their average serving size, their frequency of consumption, whether they were drinks or foods, etc. Nearly 50% of the variance in the average scores was explained by the nutritional content of the foods. When other variables were included in the analysis the percentage of variance that was explained increased to 64%., Conclusions: The average scores of the foods produce a standard ranking, which can be used as a tool for validating and comparing nutrient profile models. The regression analysis provides some information about how nutrition professionals rank the 'healthiness' of individual foods.

Objective: To compare nutrient profile models with a standard ranking of 120 foods., Design: Over 700 nutrition professionals were asked to categorise 120 foods into one of six positions on the basis of their healthiness. These categorisations were used to produce a standard ranking of the 120 foods. The standard ranking was compared with the results of applying eight different nutrient profile models to the 120 foods: Models SSCg3d and WXYfm developed for the UK Food Standards Agency, the Nutritious Food Index, the Ratio of Recommended to Restricted nutrients, the Naturally Nutrient Rich score, the Australian Heart Foundation's Tick scheme, the American Heart Association's heart-check mark and the Netherlands tripartite classification model for foods. Rank correlation was assessed for continuous models, and dependence was assessed for categorical models., Results: The continuous models each showed good correlation with the standard ranking (Spearman's rho = 0.6-0.8). The categorical models achieved high chi(2) results, indicating a high level of dependence between the nutrition professionals' and the models' categorisations (P < 0.001). Models SSCg3d and WXYfm achieved higher scores than the other models, implying a greater agreement with the standard ranking of foods., Conclusions: The results suggest that Models SSCg3d and WXYfm rank and categorise foods in accordance with the views of nutrition professionals.

This research examined healthiness perceptions and how the information underlying food attitudes more generally relate to attitudes and behaviors. Participants completed attitudinal measures and various card-sorting tasks in which they rank ordered foods (pictures and/or nutrition labels) in terms of healthiness. Taste was found to be a stronger predictor of attitudes and past eating behavior than other information underlying attitudes (health, guilt, comfort). Furthermore, participants' healthiness rankings of pictures were not correlated to rankings of the corresponding nutrition labels, suggesting that when determining a food's healthiness, participants do not rely on (or are not aware of) the actual nutritional makeup.

In this study we have developed a new way of evaluating the healthiness of ready-to-eat foods. In the developed method, ready-to-eat foods were classified into specific product categories, and the nutritional quality of classified foods was analysed using the national dietary recommendations and the national dietary survey as a basis for the dietary calculations. The method was tested with the products of 'Saarioinen', which is the leading brand in the Finnish ready-to-eat food market. Results indicate that this low-cost method can easily be used in the food industry as a tool in product development and marketing in order to develop healthy foods. The method could also be applied to the restaurant and catering trade, as well as to other public institutions serving food. By using this model, nutritional researchers and the food industry could work together to prevent nutrition-related health problems.

Objectives: The Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2005 recommended that consumers give priority to nutrient-dense foods, those that contain substantial amounts of key nutrients in relation to the dietary energy they provide. This study developed a scoring system to estimate the nutritional adequacy of vegetables and fruits, on a per weight, per calorie, and per unit cost basis., Data: We used a French national food composition database for 637 foods, including 129 vegetables and fruits. Mean national retail prices were obtained for each food., Methods: The nutrient adequacy score was defined as the mean of percent daily values for 16 nutrients, based on 100 g of food. The nutrient density score and the nutrient-to-price ratio were the mean of percent daily values for 16 nutrients, expressed per 100 kcal and per 1 euro of food, respectively. Relationships between energy density of vegetables and fruits, nutrient adequacy score, nutrient density score, and nutrient-to-price ratio were tested using linear regression., Results: Energy density and nutrient density score were negatively correlated, confirming the widely accepted notion that energy-dense foods tend to be nutrient-poor. As expected, fruits and vegetables had the highest nutrient density score because they were nutrient-rich in relation to their low energy content. They also had a relatively high nutrient-to-price ratio, showing that they provided nutrients at a reasonable cost when compared with other foods., Conclusions: Foods ranked differently when nutritional adequacy was calculated per weight (nutrient adequacy score), per calorie (nutrient density score), or per unit cost (nutrient-to-price ratio). The present results showed that although fruits and vegetables are an expensive source of dietary energy, they provide key nutrients at a reasonable cost.

Objective: In order to guarantee the safety of health foods, a safety evaluation system has been initially proposed., Method: Based on both experienced and experimental safe data of health foods, different safety criteria could be divided., Result: A safety evaluation system with five criteria has been finally established, ingredients listed in the first three safe criteria were suitable for health foods., Conclusion: This system could be applied for the selection of relevant ingredients of health foods at R&D stage, and it would be improved after certain period of implementation.

This paper reports the results of conjoint analysis of communications about functional foods, run with women aged 40 and above, using messages found on the Internet. Each of 147 women evaluated 60 concepts, comprising 2-4 phrases per concept, with the phrases dealing with an aspect of functional foods. Three respondent segments emerged, based on the pattern of individual utilities, 'health optimists' (no deep interest in functional foods), 'food for life' (food for health), and 'food for cure' (looking to functional foods to help live a normal life). The utilities of the same elements differed far more across these segments than would be expected from conventional classification questionnaires.

In the last decade, preventive medicine has undergone a great advance, especially in developed countries. Research has demonstrated that nutrition plays a crucial role in the prevention of chronic diseases, as most of them can be related to diet. Functional food enters the concept of considering food not only necessary for living but also as a source of mental and physical well-being, contributing to the prevention and reduction of risk factors for several diseases or enhancing certain physiological functions. In reference to the immune system, many studies have pointed out that not only pre- and probiotics, but also single micronutrients incorporated into functional foods contribute to an enhancement of immunocompetence. In fact, one of the authorized claims consists of pointing out the immunomodulator properties of functional foods. In this article, the effect of some functional foods and ingredients such as probiotics, selenium and dietary antioxidants (vitamins A, E and C) on the immune function are reviewed. However, the optimum intake level and recommended amounts of functional foods have not yet been established. Thus, in order to remove the controversy surrounding functional food, further research studies are necessary, both in experimental animals and in humans. Finally: efforts should be directed towards the ultimate goal, that is, a 'functional diet'.