N° 39 - July 2012

Analysis of sweeteners By Friederike Heising, Eurofins DILU GmbH, and Dr. Torben Küchler, Eurofins Analytik GmbH, Germany Sweeteners are a group of food additives used to artificial sweeteners are given in the directive impart a sweet taste to foods without added 2008/60/EC. Both of these directives will be sugar, or with reduced sugar content, or which repealed by the commencement of regulation are present in table-top sweeteners for the (EU) N°1333/2008 (replacement of 94/35/EC) individual consumer to use. In general, from 1st June 2013 and of the regulation (EU) sweeteners can be divided into two sub-groups, N°231/2012 from 1st December 2012 on namely the sugar alcohols such as sorbitol and (replacement of 2008/60/EC). mannitol, which are used in foods with further Eurofins offers several types of analyses for the technological intent besides their sweet taste, determination of the content or purity of the and artificial sweeteners. Artificial sweeteners above mentioned sweeteners and can advise on have no physiological energy content or it is the legal basis with respect to labelling and the negligible in comparison to their sweetening transition periods. Eurofins is also currently power whereby they may be used for energy- establishing a sensory determination of the reduced sweetening. The most important and sweetening power of raw materials to assist with widely used artificial sweeteners are aspartame, product development. The determination of the saccharin, acesulfame K, sodium cyclamate and sweetening power is especially of interest for sucralose. stevia products, since the raw material is a For many years there has been a steadily mixture of different steviol glycosides, so that the increasing interest of consumers in food sweetening intensity and the quality of the sweet additives from natural sources and therefore also taste of the stevia products on the market from the food industry. On December 2nd 2011, depend on the kind of processing, the steviol glycosides (E 960), which are extracted composition and purity of the applied basic raw from the leaves of the stevia plant (Stevia material. rebaudiana Bertoni), were approved as a new Eurofins is therefore your partner of choice for sweetener by the European Union. In the course the analysis and evaluation of sweeteners. of the approval the market interest emerged offering plenty of potential uses for steviol Contact: [email protected] glycosides e.g. in flavoured drinks, edible ices, cocoa and chocolate products, as covered by directive 2000/36/EC, and breakfast cereals. However, attention has to be given to the quality, the composition and purity of this group of food additives – especially in these times of rapidly rising demand, since the steviol glycosides on offer on the world market may be of variable quality. The use of sweeteners is currently regulated by directive 94/35/EC and for steviol glycosides in regulation (EU) N°1131/2011. The specific purity criteria for the

www.eurofins.com Contracting out your due diligence program By Brian McLean, Eurofins Food Testing, UK the approach. controlled conditions, information can Staff travel to be extracted from the labels, and the stores, samples can be prepared and sub- supermarkets and sampled ready for analyses. distribution depots Such programs are often supplemented to carry out with hot food temperature monitoring, sampling and and smaller sampling and testing shopping for projects on non routine emerging specified samples. issues, topical matters, food This can involve emergencies and complaints that arise nationwide outside of the planned program. coverage to ensure With over 20 years of experience in representative implementing testing schemes and due samples are taken diligence programs with retailers and where local industrial groups, Eurofins’ experts are Eurofins often acts on behalf of retailers suppliers are used. A good knowledge well qualified to be your partner for and manufacturers to carry out their of sampling, statistical protocols and the implementing your control scheme in all “own brand” due diligence sampling and requirements for specific foods are also countries where Eurofins is present. testing program. In the UK, the defence required. Contact: [email protected] of due diligence means that a company Shopping for samples sounds idyllic but has taken all reasonable precautions to there are often difficulties in trying to ensure that an offence has not been find the correct coded products and committed. In some instances, the ensuring they are identical to that retailer will contract Eurofins to carry required. Once the samples have been out a full program allowing access to transported to the laboratory, under their databases in order to properly plan Monitoring of foreign compounds and additives: Novel approach using High-Resolution NMR analyses By Dr. Eric Jamin, Eurofins Analytics France Sometimes it is difficult for Another routine application in laboratories to provide the laboratory is the use of analytical solutions to specific 1H-NMR to determine client’s needs, because there additives such as sweeteners are either no suitable tests (e.g. cyclamate, sucralose), in available, or they require drinks and confectionary, as cumbersome and costly well as taurine, glucurono- methods. However, in many lactone and sulfite ammonia cases, High-Resolution caramel (E150d) in soft drinks. Nuclear Magnetic Resonance This can avoid the use of (HR-NMR) of hydrogen or several specific carbon 13 can be used as an chromatographic procedures efficient tool to complete the whilst offering a comparable normal range of tests usually level of accuracy and performed by chromatography precision in quantification. and other “conventional” The main advantages of this techniques. novel approach are: direct NMR is versatile and can be access to specific compounds, applied to liquids or extracts from solid the possibility of multi-component matrices such as dairy products or foods. After limited sample preparation, quantification and short turn-around drinks. A frequent request from food a complete spectrum of the proton or times. technologists, which is poorly covered carbon resonance can be obtained by conventional analytical methods, is Contact: within a few minutes, offering a direct the need to validate their cleaning [email protected] access to a wide range of key-analytes procedures to avoid cross without the need to isolate them from contamination of their next production the matrix. batches. A tailor-made HR-NMR test One example of application in the can be quickly set-up to check the laboratory is for the monitoring of removal of the active compounds from detergent residues in various liquid the production line. Botanical impurities Julia Dürrstein, Eurofins GeneScan GmbH, Germany Due to the global sourcing of raw appropriate testing. In Germany No 619/2011. Furthermore, the presence materials, GM (genetically modified) products can only carry this claim when of GM containing material in botanical varieties may enter the transport chain they conform to the national legislation materials has to be taken into as admixture or cross contamination, (EGGentDurchfG). This legislation consideration as part of any negative / leading to labelling questions such as stipulates the length of time animals positive labelling strategy e.g. non GMO how to handle the question of GM soy in need to be fed with GMO-free feed, (please note that national legislations corn. An admixture may be determined before the animal products can be can differ). Eurofins offers methods that by physical means, but such a method labelled as GMO – free. To make sure provide reliable percentage by weight would not detect traces of GM material that the feed conforms to the legislation, results in unprocessed raw materials that would lead to positive results in the appropriate testing has to be conducted that enable operators to make informed standard qualitative PCR analysis. by the market operators. The analytical decisions with regards to quality criteria strategies for feed need to take into and labelling. A very important aspect of the GM consideration the approval situation of analysis with respect to labelling is the Contact: [email protected] different GM varieties. This also quantitative determination. The includes the varieties that are in the standard method (realtime quantitative approval process and covered by EU PCR) determines the ratio of the GM against the relevant species, e.g. GM soy in relation to soy. In the case of botanical impurities another relevant concern is the amount of botanical impurities present in the raw material which can be measured with the modified method of multiple standard addition. In several European countries GMO- free labelled products can be found on the shelves of retail stores. This claim is increasingly being used as a relevant marketing instrument, influencing customers buying decisions. The claim therefore needs to be proven by

Growth and ripening regulator in fruits and vegetables By Monika Dust, Eurofins SOFIA GmbH, Germany The worldwide trade of plants and other fresh products is a The analysis of 1-MCP has not been possible so far, because challenge for food traders as the goods must always be fresh no analytical standards were available for sale. Eurofins has in spite of the long distances transported and long transport now implemented an optimised GC-MS measurement to give times. a limit of quantification of 0.005 mg/kg for 1-MCP in fresh products. The method has currently been validated for 1-Methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) is a plant growth and apples, bananas and tomatoes. Further matrices ripening regulator. It acts as an inhibitor of will be implemented on request. ethylene by blocking the receptor of ethylene in the tissues of plants, flowers, fruit and Contact: [email protected] vegetables, thus preventing the ripening process. According to reports, the toxicological relevance of 1-MCP does not appear to be an issue. However, consumers have the right to be fully informed about foreign substances on their fruits and vegetables. As an example, 1-MCP is used in the SmartFreshTM system, which is registered in 38 countries and commercialised on apples, kiwifruit, plums, pears and persimmons, tomatoes, melon, avocado and banana. In Germany the use of 1-MCP is only allowed for apples. in brief First webinars started maximum levels, Eurofins has entered into force on April 2nd 2012 in expanded its high-resolution mass- Regulation (EU) No 284/2012. Eurofins Conferences successfully spectrometry measurement capacity Maximum levels for caesium-134 and started its Focal Point webinar series (HR-ICP-MS) in Germany. We are now caesium-137 were significantly reduced with four webinars in German and able to offer not only a more selective for the majority of products to align English language on allergens and but also an essentially more sensitive them to the Japanese maximum levels glutenfree labelling. Also, analysis for lead, cadmium, mercury, adopted in February 2012. The former demonstrating fast reaction to current arsenic, with further metals to follow. implementing Regulation (EU) issues, a short notice webinar on dioxin No 961/2011 is repealed. Eurofins Contact: [email protected] and PCB was conducted due to the Competence Centre for inorganic PCB issue in German eggs. The contaminants offers the analysis of the forthcoming webinars deal with mineral Determination of rice whiteness by measurement of reflectance isotopes mentioned and iodine-131 oil in food packaging materials, using gamma-spectrometry. pesticides and authenticity. Read more A new test based on reflectance has on www.eurofins-conferences/webinars. Contact: [email protected] been developed to determine the Contact: [email protected] whiteness of rice. The whiter the Eurofins acquires LabCo in the sample, the more light is reflected and Netherlands Eurofins builds up HR-ICP-MS this has been found to be directly capacities for metals in correlated to the percentage of the Eurofins announced on March 29th, Germany grinding / polishing. It is therefore an 2012 the acquisition of all the activities additional parameter to assess the of LabCo Laboratory Services (LabCo). The global requirements on the safety quality of rice. This laboratory for physicochemical of food are constantly changing. and microbiological analysis located in Toxicological re-evaluations may lead Contact: [email protected] Rotterdam will now operate under the to a lowering or introduction of legally name Eurofins LabCo. binding maximum levels – a process EU tightens radioactivity levels Contact: [email protected] currently ongoing in the EU for for imports from Japan cadmium. Revised requirements concerning the To assist in ensuring that food products import of food and feed from Japan are in compliance with reduced

COMING EVENTS EVENT DATE & PLACE MORE INFO CONTACT Dioxin 2012 26.-31.08.12, Cairns, Australia www.dioxin2012.org [email protected] SPACE 11.-14.09.2012, Rennes, France www.space.fr [email protected] CoTeCa 20.-22.09.12, Hamburg, Germany www.coteca-hamburg.de [email protected] Euro Fed Lipid Congress 23.-26.09.12, Cracow, Poland www.eurofedlipid.org [email protected] Eurofins GMO Conference 19.10.2012, Hamburg, Germany www.eurofins-conferences.com [email protected] SIAL 21.-25.10.12, Paris, France www.sialparis.com [email protected] 7th World Mykotoxin Forum 05.-09.11.12, Rotterdam, Netherlands www.wmfmeetsiupac.org [email protected]

Eurofins China Eurofins Netherlands Other countries Arnaud Leclercq / [email protected] Linda Tilman / [email protected] [email protected] Newsletter editorial team: Eurofins Denmark Eurofins Norway Svend Aage Linde / [email protected] Inger J. Bakke / [email protected] F. Heupel, L. Kandalaft, S. Noster-Vallée, B. McLean, M. Pielburg, T. Trampe, L. Reimann, S. Jensen, Eurofins France Eurofins Sweden J. Douma, M. Martin. François Vigneau / [email protected] Fredrik Westerberg / [email protected] © Published by Eurofins Scientific. Eurofins Germany Eurofins Switzerland All rights reserved. The greatest care has been taken to Tanja Trampe / [email protected] Klaus Fuchs / [email protected] ensure accuracy but the publishers cannot accept any legal responsibility or liability for errors or omissions that may be Eurofins Italy Eurofins UK made. Valeria Merlo / [email protected] Liz Paterson / [email protected] For further information & contacts in other Eurofins Japan Eurofins USA countries please refer to our Colin Granier / [email protected] Lars Reimann / [email protected] website www.eurofins.com.