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Authenticity of foods

Project management Mayer Helmut
organizational unit Institute of Food Science
duration 01.12.2003 to- 06.09.2011
Research project (§ 26 & § 27)
Program none
Funder National: Companies
Competencies 
  • Lebensmittel, Ernährung, Gesundheit
  • Forschungscluster "Lebensmittel"

Abstract

Authenticity of foods represents a permanent challenge to food analysts within modern quality assessment of foods. In general, the economic adulteration include the substitution or omission of valuable compounds in food products for less costly ingredients, the addition of ingredients to make products appear to be better, as well as false or misleading labelling of products. Food authenticity comprises several economic issues: cheating consumers, unfair competition to legitimate industry, and damage to consumer perception of products. The intentional adulteration of foods mostly covers the following aspects: the non-compliance of the product with the standard requirements, the use of unexpected or not allowed ingredients, extenders or additives, and the use of unexpected or not allowed treatments or technological processes. There is an immense number of possible frauds within these issues, therefore food chemists and control authorities are challenged to keep abreast of recent developments in the food industry. Referring to the species identification of animal foods (e.g., milk and dairy products or meat and meat products), the differentiation of foods from different species is to be studied by using species-specific PCR and protein electrophoresis. Regarding the identity control of probiotic micro-organisms, lactic acid bacterial strains and yeast strains are to be characterised and identified using modern biochemical methods (protein fingerprinting) as well as different molecular biological techniques (DNA fingerprinting by RAPD-PCR and PFGE; PCR using genus- and species-specific primers).

Publications

Project staff

Portrait Helmut Mayer

Helmut Mayer

ao.Univ.Prof. Dipl.-Ing.Dr.nat.techn. Helmut Mayer
helmut.mayer@boku.ac.at
Tel: +43 1 47654-75412

Project Leader

01.12.2003 - 06.09.2011

BOKU partners

Institute of Food Science

role coordinator

External partners

Hundsbichler Josef KG

partner

Lactosan Starterkulturen GmbH

partner

Funder

Lactosan GmbH & Co. KG

Hundsbichler Josef KG