Detecting food fraud - thanks to light quanta

Check food for content and origin more cost-effectively

08-Dec-2022 - When shopping in the supermarket, consumers must be able to rely on the food label. But is it always correct? In the joint project QSPEC, AMO GmbH, Laser Zentrum Hannover e.V. (LZH), AG Photonische Quantentechnologien of Leibniz Universität Hannover (LUH), TOPTICA Photonics AG, AMOtronics UG and ...

Sniffing out carcinogens in foodstuffs

Andrea Hochegger, an analytical chemist at TU Graz, investigates whether foodstuffs can be tainted with harmful substances from packaging or during production

27-Sep-2022 - Andrea Hochegger’s current research focus is the question of contamination with mineral oil hydrocarbons. “We break up complex mixtures into MOSH and MOAH fractions,” Andrea explains. These are groups of chemical compounds found in mineral oil. MOSH stands for mineral oil saturated hydrocarbons ...

Nano-sensor detects pesticides on fruit in minutes

The new nano-sensors employ a 1970s discovery

08-Jun-2022 - Researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have developed a tiny sensor for detecting pesticides on fruit in just a few minutes. The technique, described as a proof-of-concept in a paper in the journal Advanced Science, uses flame-sprayed nanoparticles made from silver to increase the signal ...

Researchers report quantum-limit-approaching chemical sensing chip

Study shows improvements to chemical sensing chip that aims to quickly and accurately identify drugs and other trace chemicals

13-Jan-2021 - University at Buffalo researchers are reporting an advancement of a chemical sensing chip that could lead to handheld devices that detect trace chemicals -- everything from illicit drugs to pollution -- as quickly as a breathalyzer identifies alcohol. The chip, which also may have uses in food ...

Wine Fraud: Chemical Fingerprint Uncorks Juicy Facts

30-Jan-2019 - Numerous components of 42 different wines have been analysed using state-of-the-art equipment for the first time. The data generated will provide an extremely accurate basis for definitively characterising different wine varieties, as well as an innovative approach for routine wine analysis. The ...

Cracking eggshell nanostructure

01-Apr-2018 - How is it that fertilized chicken eggs manage to resist fracture from the outside, while at the same time, are weak enough to break from the inside during chick hatching? It's all in the eggshell's nanostructure, according to a new study led by McGill University scientists. The findings could ...

New sensors could enable more affordable detection of pollution and diseases

23-Jun-2017 - When it comes to testing for cancer, environmental pollution and food contaminants, traditional sensors can help. The challenges are that they often are bulky, expensive, non-intuitive and complicated. Now, one team reports in ACS Sensors that portable pressure-based detectors coupled with ...

Fluorescence method detects mercury contamination in fish

24-Feb-2017 - Researchers from the University of Burgos (Spain) have developed a fluorescent polymer that lights up in contact with mercury that may be present in fish. High levels of the metal were detected in samples of swordfish and tuna. According to the conclusions of another Spanish study, mercury ...

New procedures to authenticate foods as a step towards standardisation

06-Dec-2016 - Whether it is olive oil from Apulia, Pata Negra ham from Spain or 12-year-old single-malt whisky from the Scottish Orkney Islands - all these products are characterised by their quality and their high price. These properties also make a number of other foodstuffs including fish, honey and meat ...

Old and new challenges for food safety

15-Nov-2016 - The occurrence of zoonotic pathogens and toxigenic bacteria in the food chain and the associated risk for humans were the focus of the "4th Symposium for Zoonoses and Food Safety" at the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) in Berlin. Around 250 participants were discussing strategies to ...