- New procedure against labelling fraud in organic eggs
A novel testing method can accurately determine, with a 99.9% hit rate, whether an egg sold as organic indeed comes from organic farming. The method, which relies on nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR spectroscopy), was developed by Andreas Juadjur, head of chemical analysis at the German Institute of Food Technology (DIL) in Quakenbrück (Osnabrück district). The research project was funded by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture in a program to promote organic farming.
The method allows for quick conclusions to be drawn about the profile of individual ingredients in an egg, explained Juadjur: "We essentially take a fingerprint of the egg and compare this fingerprint in the form of the ingredient profile with our database." Previously, the scientists in Quakenbrück had examined 4,500 eggs over a period of two and a half years to create a database.
The method uses Artificial Intelligence
The goal was to develop a model that allows conclusions to be drawn about the origin of eggs whose origin is unknown. The accuracy of the method depends on the validity of the samples stored, said Juadjur. The challenge was that there are usually only three different chicken breeds in conventional hen farming, while there are many more in organic farming. The breed of the hen also influences the ingredient profile of the egg.
The project showed that it is possible, with a sufficiently large dataset, to establish such models using artificial intelligence to create future analyses of the origin of animal products. "The scientific part is done. If one wants to use it as a verification tool, one would have to check and also extend the data every year," said Juadjur.
Also applicable to other food products
According to Juadjur, the DIL scientists have also shown that the difference between dry-aged and wet-aged beef can be proven using NMR spectroscopy. It is possible that the method can be used for any animal-based food product.
The goal of the project was to find a method that can prove the organic farming method. This gives farmers the opportunity to confirm the correctness of the labeling, so that consumers can have trust in the products, said Juadjur: "There are cases where people cheat, and it's important that you can check that again on the analytical side."
Faster detection of food scandals
The method can also help detect food scandals faster. Juadjur recalled the melamine scandal in China, where the plastic base product melamine was mixed into milk powder to falsely appear to have a higher protein content. 300,000 infants became ill, six died.
The NMR-based method would not have detected the melamine in this case, but it would have noticed that something was not right. "With one measurement, we see in 20 minutes if there are any anomalies in the spectrum of the ingredients," he said.
Possibilities for controlling hemp cultivation
The team around Juadjur has already come up with another idea for how the NMR spectroscopy method could be used: It could also be used to analyze the ingredients of hemp. After the legalization of cannabis, this could be a way to gather statistics on the types of hemp being grown, such as the percentage of the psychoactive component THC. "This could be fed back to politics so that they can evaluate, based on these data, how the legislation is affecting things," said Juadjur.
The Federal Ministry of Agriculture provided funding for the project aiming to prove the organic farming method of eggs, which gives farmers the opportunity to verify labeling accuracy and maintain consumer trust. The use of NMR spectroscopy in the project also has potential applications in controlling hemp cultivation, providing valuable data on the types of hemp being grown and their THC content.
