Discriminating organic and conventional foods by analysis of their microbial ecology: An application on fruits

Geographical traceability of soybean: An electronic nose coupled with an effective deep learning method

The quality of soybeans is correlated with their geographical origin. It is a common phenomenon to replace low-quality soybeans from substandard origins with superior ones. This paper proposes the adaptive convolutional kernel channel attention network (AKCA-Net) combined with an electronic nose (e-nose) to achieve soybean quality traceability. First, the e-nose system is used to collect soybean gas information from different origins. Second, depending on the characteristics of the gas information, we propose the adaptive convolutional kernel channel attention (AKCA) module, which focuses on key gas channel features adaptively. Finally, the AKCA-Net is proposed, which is capable of modeling deep gas channel interdependency efficiently, realizing high-precision recognition of soybean quality. In comparative experiments with other attention mechanisms, AKCA-Net demonstrated superior performance, achieving an accuracy of 98.21%, precision of 98.57%, and recall of 98.60%. In conclusion, the combination of the AKCA-Net and e-nose provides an effective strategy for soybean quality traceability.

Why the importance of geo-origin tracing of edible bird nests is arising?

Edible bird's nest (EBN) swiftlet existed naturally 48,000 years ago in caves as their natural dwellings. Nowadays, edible bird's nest has become a very important industry due to its high nutritional, medicinal and economic value. Additionally, edible bird's nest has a long quality guarantee period. Obviously, the nutritional components and medicinal functions vary depending on geographical origins. Recently, the global demand for edible bird's nest has markedly increased, accompanied by the increasing attention of all key players of the global food trade system, i.e., producers, consumers, traders and the authorities to obtain safe and high-quality edible bird's nest. Hence, this target can be accomplished via the enforcement of an efficient and universal geo-tracing technique. Current methods of the geo-tracking of edible bird's nest, i.e., automation, physical and analytical techniques have several limitations and all of them fail to discriminate different quality grades of edible bird's nest. Meanwhile, in many studies and applications, polymerase chain reaction-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (PCR-DGGE) has proven to be a "cutting edge" technique for greatly enhance food traceability from field to fork through its ability in distinguishing the food products in terms of their quality and safety. This article provides an overview of (1) edible bird's nest as a multiuse strategic food product, (2) quality issues associated with edible bird's nest including implications that the site of acquisition of the edible bird's nest has food safety implications, (3) current regulations and geo-tracking approaches to ensure the safety and quality of edible bird's nest with the special focus on polymerase chain reaction-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis technique as a vigorous and universal geo-tracing tool to be suggested for edible bird's nest geo-traceability.

Considering Fraud Vulnerability Associated with Credence-Based Products Such as Organic Food

Organic foods carry a premium price. They are credence-based foods, i.e., it is difficult for consumers to evaluate the premium aspects of organic food under normal use. In global supply chains, organic food is purchased on institutional trust (certification, logos, standards) rather than on relational trust. Relying on institutional trust makes consumers vulnerable to criminals who intentionally label conventional product as organic or develop sophisticated organized crime networks to defraud businesses and consumers. The aim of this research is to explore cases of organic fraud that are emergent from academic and gray literature searches to identify ways to strengthen future capabilities to counter illicit activities in a globalized food environment. Each case is considered in terms of perpetrator motivations (differentiated as economic, cultural, and behaviorally orientated drivers), the mode of operation (simple or organized), the guardians involved/absent, and the business and supply chain level vulnerabilities the cases highlight. The study finds that institutional trust is particularly vulnerable to fraud. Supply chain guardians need to recognize this vulnerability and implement effective controls to reduce the likelihood of occurrence. However, in some cases considered in the study, the guardians themselves were complicit in the illicit behavior, further increasing consumer vulnerability. Future research needs to consider how additional controls can be implemented, without increasing supply chain friction that will impact on food trade and supply, that can ensure consumers are purchasing what they believe they are paying for.

Assessment of multiple stable isotopes for tracking regional and organic authenticity of plant products in Hesse, Germany

As demand for regional and organically produced foodstuff has increased in Europe, the need has arisen to verify the products' origin and production method. For food authenticity tracking (production method and origin), we examined 286 samples of wheat (Triticum aestivum), potatoes (Solanum tuberosum), and apples (Malus domestica) from different regions in Germany for their stable isotope compositions of oxygen, hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen and sulphur. Single-variate authentication methods were used. Suitable isotope tracers to determine wheat's regional origin were δ¹⁸O and δ³⁴S. δ¹³C helped to distinguish between organic and conventional wheat samples. For the separation of the production regions of potatoes, several isotope tracers were suitable (e.g. δ¹⁸O, δ²H, δ¹⁵N, δ¹³C and δ³⁴S isotopes in potato protein), but only protein δ¹⁵N was suitable to differentiate between organic and conventional potato samples. For the apple samples, ²H and ¹⁸O isotopes helped to identify production regions, but no significant statistical differences could be found between organically and conventionally farmed apples. For food authenticity tracking, our study showed the need to take the various isotopes into account. There is an urgent need for a broad reference database if isotope measurements are to become a main tool for determining product's origin.

Traceability of fruits and vegetables

Food safety and traceability are nowadays a constant concern for consumers, and indeed for all actors in the food chain, including those involved in the fruit and vegetable sector. For the EU, the principles and legal requirements of traceability are set out in Regulation 178/2002. Currently however the regulation does not describe any analytical traceability tools. Furthermore, traceability systems for fruits and vegetables face increasing competition due to market globalization. The current challenge for actors in this sector is therefore to be sufficiently competitive in terms of price, traceability, quality and safety to avoid scandal and fraud. For all these reasons, new, flexible, cheap and efficient traceability tools, as isotopic analysis, DNA fingerprinting and metabolomic profiling coupled with chemometrics are needed.

DNA sequencing, genomes and genetic markers of microbes on fruits and vegetables

The development of DNA sequencing technology has provided an effective method for studying foodborne and phytopathogenic microorganisms on fruits and vegetables (F & V). DNA sequencing has successfully proceeded through three generations, including the tens of operating platforms. These advances have significantly promoted microbial whole‐genome sequencing (WGS) and DNA polymorphism research. Based on genomic and regional polymorphisms, genetic markers have been widely obtained. These molecular markers are used as targets for PCR or chip analyses to detect microbes at the genetic level. Furthermore, metagenomic analyses conducted by sequencing the hypervariable regions of ribosomal DNA (rDNA) have revealed comprehensive microbial communities in various studies on F & V. This review highlights the basic principles of three generations of DNA sequencing, and summarizes the WGS studies of and available DNA markers for major bacterial foodborne pathogens and phytopathogenic fungi found on F & V. In addition, rDNA sequencing‐based bacterial and fungal metagenomics are summarized under three topics. These findings deepen the understanding of DNA sequencing and its application in studies of foodborne and phytopathogenic microbes and shed light on strategies for the monitoring of F & V microbes and quality control.

The signatures of microorganisms and of human and environmental biomes can now be used to provide evidence in legal cases

The microorganisms with which we share our world go largely unnoticed. We are, however, beginning to be able to exploit their apparently silent presence as witnesses to events that are of legal concern. This information can be used to link forensic samples to criminal events and even perpetrators. Once dead, our bodies are rapidly colonised, internally and externally. The progress of these events can be charted to inform how long and even by what means a person has died. A small number of microbial species could actually be the cause of such deaths as a result of biocrime or bioterrorism. The procedures and techniques to respond to such attacks have matured in the last 20 years. The capability now exists to identify malicious intent, characterise the threat agent to isolate level and potentially link it to perpetrators with a high level of confidence.

Role of biological control agents and physical treatments in maintaining the quality of fresh and minimally-processed fruit and vegetables

Fruit and vegetables are an important part of human diets and provide multiple health benefits. However, due to the short shelf-life of fresh and minimally-processed fruit and vegetables, significant losses occur throughout the food distribution chain. Shelf-life extension requires preserving both the quality and safety of food products. The quality of fruit and vegetables, either fresh or fresh-cut, depends on many factors and can be determined by analytical or sensory evaluation methods. Among the various technologies used to maintain the quality and increase shelf-life of fresh and minimally-processed fruit and vegetables, biological control is a promising approach. Biological control refers to postharvest control of pathogens using microbial cultures. With respect to application of biological control for increasing the shelf-life of food, the term biopreservation is favored, although the approach is identical. The methods for screening and development of biocontrol agents differ greatly according to their intended application, but the efficacy of all current approaches following scale-up to commercial conditions is recognized as insufficient. The combination of biological and physical methods to maintain quality has the potential to overcome the limitations of current approaches. This review compares biocontrol and biopreservation approaches, alone and in combination with physical methods. The recent increase in the use of meta-omics approaches and other innovative technologies, has led to the emergence of new strategies to increase the shelf-life of fruit and vegetables, which are also discussed herein.

Tackling Fraudsters with Global Strategies to Expose Fraud in the Food Chain

Deliberate adulteration of food products is as old as food processing and production systems. Food adulteration is occurring increasingly often today. With globalization and complex distribution systems, adulteration may have a far-reaching impact and even adverse consequences on well-being. The means of the international community to confront and solve food fraud today are scattered and largely ineffective. A collective approach is needed to identify all stakeholders in the food supply chain, certify and qualify them, exclude those failing to meet applicable standards, and track food in a real time. This review provides some background into the drivers of fraudulent practices (economically motivated adulteration, food-industry perspectives, and consumers' perceptions of fraud) and discusses a wide range of the currently available technologies for detecting food adulteration followed by multivariate pattern recognition tools. Food chain integrity policies are discussed. Future directions in research, concerned not only with food adulterers but also with food safety and climate change, may be useful for researchers in developing interdisciplinary approaches to contemporary problems.