Investigating authenticity and tracing origin with isotope fingerprints

As organic fruit and vegetables attract a higher price on the market, this can lead to economically motivated fraud through mislabeling produce as “organic” when they have been grown using synthetic fertilizer.
Laboratories need an analytical technique that can differentiate organic and non-organic grown fruit and vegetables: this can be achieved using the nitrogen isotope fingerprints measured using IRMS. Food and beverage samples have a fingerprint, a unique chemical signature that allows the product to be identified with IRMS. Using isotope fingerprints, food and beverage origin, authenticity and product label claims can be verified in a unique way. Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry (IRMS) works by detecting the “isotope fingerprint” of a sample, a unique chemical signature that changes from sample to sample. The identification of mislabeled products subsequently protects consumer confidence, brand market reputation related revenue-generating capabilities.