The research, carried out by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) and the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), used a pioneering technique known as stable isotope reference analysis (SIRA) and examined 96 food samples (beef, pork, lamb, apply juice, tomatoes and honey) from retail and wholesale units from mid December 2013 to early January this year.

The results found no evidence of food being sold with misleading country of origin claims. The study has reignited the debate over food origin traceability regulation and the need to protect consumers, while also recognising the vital role isotope technology plays in this process.

Longhand Isotopes, based in North Yorkshire, works in partnership with Agroisolab of Jülich, Germany.  Together they have over 100 global databases of food products for isotope testing and have developed new techniques and devices that deliver the fastest turnaround of results in the world. Longhand Isotopes, part of The Longhand Group, has been involved in SIRA authentication since 2006 and was one of the FSA appointed labs to analyse samples as part of the study.

Commenting on the research, Roger Young, managing director of Longhand Isotopes, said: “We welcome this study and the clear significance that the FSA and Defra are placing on the ability of SIRA to investigate and assure the trustworthiness of food origins and associated labelling.

“We’ve known for some time the potential this technology has to offer the food industry in terms of accountability, highlighted by the increasing number of customers using us and our technology to deliver powerful due diligence of the origin of their products.  This recent FSA research has highlighted again how valuable such a checking system is in safeguarding standards and promoting consumer confidence. There needs to be a collective push to ensure that we incorporate the technology into routine food traceability testing to achieve greater transparency.”

The use of SIRA authentication is not new science - it has been used for many years to determine the origins of human remains and in archaeology. Hydrogen, oxygen, carbon, nitrogen and sulphur are common elements found in nature – including in food products. Each of these elements occurs as two or more isotopic forms – and the ratio of these forms is the basis of SIRA authentication. The naturally occurring ratios – in soil, water and in animal feed and in plant fertilisers are transferred to animal and plant tissues when consumed. By measuring the ratios in food and comparing them to reference libraries of food of known origin, it is possible to say if the claimed origin is correct.

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Sallie Blair
Better Times
Telephone 01283 821012
Mobile 07702 541401
Email sal@bettertimes.co.uk