L. Ruggiero, R. Ofano, D. Agrelli, C. Amalfitano, P. Adamo
Multielement fingerprinting of soils and agriproducts as tracer of food geographical provenience: the case of Vesuvian Piennolo Tomato PDO

Multielement fingerprinting is one of the most widely used technique to discriminate the geographical origin of food. It takes advantage of the fact that mineral elements can be transferred from soil to agricultural products and thus any difference in element distribution between different geographic regions are reflected in agriproducts. The Vesuvian Piennolo Tomato (VPT) is a traditional variety, grown in the Campania (Italy) on the SommaVesuvius volcano slopes, sold assembled in bunches and characterized by long shelf-life. VPT was awarded by Protect Designation Origin (PDO) in 2009. Local "custodian farmers" play an important role in conserving traditional cultivation management and biodiversity, as well as organoleptic properties deriving from Vesuvian environment. Due to the high typicity and higher selling value, VPT is susceptible to origin fraud. Thus, main aim of our study is to valorise VPT strengthening the traceability system. A way to achieve this is to link the tomato to the soil characteristics by multielement fingerprinting. In this work, the multielement profiles of VPT (three ecotypes) from five PDO and two not PDO farms were investigated in two production years. In addition, the multielement profile of cultivation soils (total and bioavailable elements) was investigated to evidence the variability of the PDO or not PDO soils and relationships with related tomatoes. The exploratory PCA analysis of multielement profiles evidenced a tendency to a natural grouping of tomato and soil according to provenance farms. By contrast any tendency to a natural grouping of tomatoes according to ecotypes was observed. S-LDA model applied on tomato multielement profiles grouped by farms gave 100% of correct classification and external validation, demonstrating a great discriminating power of multielement fingerprinting. The good correlation between elements in soil and tomatoes reinforced the reliability of the discriminant variables. Work carried out in the framework of METROFOOD-IT (NextGenerationEU, PNRR - M4C2, Investment 3.1: Fund for the realisation of an integrated system of research and innovation infrastructures - IR0000033 (D.M. Prot. n.120 del 21/06/2022) and Tomato Trace 4.0 (Campania Region Rural Development Programme) projects.

A. Ochem, L. Delaire, C. Marc, C. Dutfoy, A. Diby
Analytical strategy for food authenticity and characterization of food frauds

The Joint Laboratories Service is a governmental agency working mainly for the French Customs and the French Fraud Repression administrations. It is constituted of 11 labs, in France mainland and overseas, of different sizes and specialities working together in network. Among this network, the laboratory of Paris is particularly in charge of analysis of various food products to detect some frauds. Those frauds may have for consequences some economic losses for the French administration as well as some consequences on the health safety of population. The purpose of the lecture will be to present our analytical strategy in front of a potential fraud involving food products such as fruits, vegetables, eggs and so on. In particular, different examples of recent caseworks and the analytical ways to face them will be developped. The first one will be the use of etephon on pineapples or bananas to mature them quicker. The second one will deal with the use of additives in egg white in the industry. And finally, an illustration of how analytical chemistry allows us to show that the mention « grow in France » may be abusivelly used. The main analytical techniques presented will be LC-QToF, LC-MS-MS and viscosimetry.

R. Zeleny, M. Dabrio, A. M. Kortekaas, M. Ricci, B. Sejeroe-Olsen, P. Shegunova
Recently developed food matrix CRMs from EC-JRC

The presentation focuses on some of the recently developed and released food matrix certified reference materials (CRMs), namely the mass fractions of short- and medium-chain chlorinated paraffins in an existing fish tissue CRM, the mass fraction of fipronil in egg, the mass fractions of pesticides in wheat flour, the identity (genetic identification) of Hippoglossus hippoglossus (Atlantic halibut), and the alcoholic strength, carbon-13 and deuterium isotope ratios in ethanol from grape sugar fermentation (96 % vol.). Raw materials were converted into suitably homogeneous and stable candidate reference materials using various techniques such as milling, mixing and freeze-drying. For some materials, the analytes were either spiked into the blank matrices or naturally contaminated raw materials were used. For the ethanol CRM, commercially available ethanol was used, and for the fish identity CRM, Atlantic halibut filet served as raw material. Expert laboratories operating their methods under ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation and/or adhering to this ISO standard performed measurements in the characterisation studies, and after technical and statistical data scrutiny, reference values were assigned to the materials and their respective uncertainties calculated. All projects were operated in compliance with ISO 17034. Novel food matrix CRMs were developed, which have certified values for the mass fractions of chlorinated paraffins in fish, fipronil in egg, pesticides in wheat, the taxon (genetic identity) of Atlantic halibut, and the alcoholic strength, carbon-13 and deuterium isotope ratios in ethanol. The intended use for these CRMs is method performance verification and method validation (trueness determination). The CRMs will enable laboratories to establish and safeguard reliable measurements in the respective application fields.

A. M. Rossi, C. Portesi
European Metrological Network for Safe and Sustainable Food: implementation and strategies for coordinating metrology and research at European level

The provision of safe, high-quality food is vital for human health, and innovation in the food sector is needed to protect the environment, ensure sustainability, and respond to future needs. EURAMET, the association of National Metrology Institutes (NMI) in Europe, approved in May 2022 the European Metrology Network (EMN) for Safe and Sustainable Food (EMN Food). The EMN Food aims to foster collaboration and coordination in the measurement science community to meet metrology needs along the food chain, working within the European Union's Farm to Fork Strategy. The network promotes a harmonised approach to food measurements, reference materials and standards, which will allow National Metrology Institutes (NMIs) and Designated Institutes (DIs) across Europe to respond to stakeholders and regulations with confidence and quality. This will afford greater protection to citizens and the environment and accelerate the response to emerging and future metrology needs. The Strategic Research Agenda (SRA) of the Network have been drafted to give as much of a comprehensive overview as possible of the major metrological challenges faced by workers in the food safety and sustainability area, as envisaged by stakeholders of this field and specialists in metrology. Based on the outcomes of dedicated surveys, the stakeholders needs have been identified and addressed by specific training courses and workshops. The EMN has also contributed to specific activities in the framework of the World Metrology Day 2023: "Measurements supporting the global food system". It has also supported exchanges of researchers across Europe for sharing knowledge and experience and for promoting interaction with key stakeholders such as European Reference Laboratories. The EMN-Food has also promoted scientific activities related to metrological research in food safety and sustainability, and in the framework of national and European projects, for guaranteeing an adequate economical support of the EMN activities. A key objective of the EMN is the definition of a common approach for the production of Certified Reference Materials and Reference Materials for food and food-related matrices and analytes In this presentation, the SRA and the EMN strategy for reference materials will be presented, together with the national and international projects involving the consortium and aligned with the scope of the EMN.

Luc Ingenbleek
Total Diet Studies: narrowing down potential concerns to identify priority food safety issues

Total Diet Studies (TDS), as a methodological approach to perform dietary exposure assessment, emerged in the early 1960's. The specifities of TDSs are that: i) they cover most of the foods people eat( often exceeding 90% by weight), ii) the foods are prepared as consumed and iii) samples are pooled before conducting laboratory tests for food chemicals. TDS base their sampling approach and exposure estimates on food consumption data, which are, ideally, nationally representative. Consequently, the TDS data currently represents the best available tool towards identifying, among a pre-determined list of hazards and nutrients, the ones which may lead to potential health concerns. Due to inherent limitations, a TDS is not adapted to the a priori standard setting process and is nonetheless complementary to other monitoring approaches, which may be better suited for regulatory purposes and conformity assessment. However, a TDS is powerful screening tool, the granularity of which depends on available resources and the public health questions to be answered. Since 2011, EFSA, FAO and WHO have provided technical guidance on how to conduct a TDS, depending, among others, on these important considerations. Concrete applications of the uptake of TDS results include the formulations by risk managers of dietary recommendations for specific population groups (e.g. methylmercury from predatory fish consumption by pregnant women and infants and young children) or the general population (excessive iodine intake), the optimization of the official monitoring and control plans of the food chain and the reformulation of phytosanitary products to reduce the maximum limit of metals such as Cd in fertilizers and, finally the identification of large scale inadequate or fraudulent practices in certain settings. WHO and its partners continue to promote and share experiences of the implementation of TDS at national or regional level, as a cost-effective tool, potentially supporting the provision of answers to the scientific questions of risk managers.