­Near Infrared Technology to Fight Dairy Adulteration

Recent algorithm advances designed specifically to address the problem of screening for potentially numerous adulterants in a complex matrix combines the generality and simplicity of “fingerprinting” with some of the sensitivity benefits of a targeted approach. These algorithms require some information about the potential adulterants but are just a single spectrum of the pure sample. They can be readily shared between sites and even generated by the instrument manufacturers. The PerkinElmer DairyGuard Milk Powder Analyzer is an example of a complete system configured with a unique Adulterant Screen algorithm for the analysis of milk powders.

Summary

Adulteration of food and food ingredients for economic gain is an old practice and, sadly, one that is unlikely to be eliminated in the near future. This problem needs to be tackled with all the analytical techniques at our disposal. Fingerprinting of high-risk food types such as milk powder is valuable and NIR spectroscopy clearly has a role to play given its ubiquity in raw materials testing. Food companies can find that extending their existing testing equipment is a fast and cost-effective way to enhancing their portfolio to help detect food fraud.

Palmer is the food director for PerkinElmer. Reach her at [email protected].

References

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