KAUST’s NMR Technology Unmasks Olive Oil Food Fraud
A bottle of olive oil completes a kitchen - high in antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties, olive oil also has a range of heart health benefits and helps to manage cholesterol. As a result, it is among the more expensive oil options. The global olive oil market is worth over US$14bn, with Homer himself calling the stuff ‘liquid gold’.
As a result, there is great appeal in creating fake olive oil and selling it at the full price. Fraudsters take the genuine product and add cheaper seed oils, or even artificial substances to bulk out the product. This is known as food fraud. Food fraud is the deliberate and secretive misrepresentation of food ingredients, to sell a product at the full price and save the manufacturer money.
But now researchers at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) have invented a method to detect olive oil adulteration, from inside the bottle.
Food fraud from Ancient Rome to NMR technology
The practice of food fraud is perhaps one of the oldest tricks in the human history of food. Archeologists exploring the ancient Roman ruins of Pompeii, which was destroyed in 79AD, discovered evidence of potential food fraud on loaves of bread, which were marked to trace any adulterated bread.
Perhaps the most famous example of food fraud is the 2008 Chinese baby formula scandal. 22 Chinese dairy companies were found to be selling baby formula laced with Melamine, a chemical used in plastic production. Melamine was added to diluted raw milk, to increase its protein content. Six babies died as a result of the formula, while 300,000 Chinese babies were affected overall. Since then, baby formula manufacturers have been subjected to stricter regulations and the wider food sector has been working hard to catch similar fraudsters.
The Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) and King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) have teamed up to create a method using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), that can identify any adulterants in olive oil.
NMR machines operate by creating magnetic fields, using these fields and common multivariate statistical techniques, KAUST are able to measure each adulterant and its amount in samples of olive oil. The strength of the magnetic field gave a resolution so that normally undetectable levels of adulterants were discovered.
This method assures consumers that the olive oil they buy has the health properties that the label claims.
Enhancing olive oil purity testing and promoting food safety in Saudi Arabia
Dr. Hibah Alharbi, scientist at the SFDA’s Reference Laboratories and initiator of the collaboration with KAUST, said that KAUST was chosen due to their expertise in advanced analytical techniques, specifically, high-resolution NMR spectroscopy combined with multivariate data analysis. This enhanced the detection capabilities for vegetable oils mixed in with the olive oil.
“The collaboration between the SFDA and KAUST enhances knowledge transfer between the two organisations and aims to improve food quality and safety,” she said. “This partnership is dedicated to maintaining the health and safety of citizens and promoting public health by establishing the highest standards for food quality and safety through the development of tests and analytical capabilities for laboratories.”
“We share our NMR facilities with organisations across the country that are study priorities of the Kingdom,” said Dr. Abdul-Hamid Enwas, a staff scientist at KAUST specialising in NMR and contributor to the project. “Our work with the SFDA is an excellent example of how we can improve food quality and the overall health of the Kingdom’s people.”
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