Key challenges and developments in non-targeted methods or systems to identify food adulteration

Food fraud is an ongoing global challenge that is amplified by the complexity of supply chain networks and fraudsters becoming more innovative in the way they commit fraud. There is a great need for rapid analytical tools that offer broad product screening. Non-targeted methods provide an approach by which a food matrix can be analysed and screened for adulterations. While various developments exist for rapid non-targeted approaches, there are still multiple challenges to overcome. More work is required to validate, harmonise and standardise non-targeted methods and the associated data interpretations. Promising advances include novel technological developments with devices becoming smaller and portable with increased sensitivity. It is undoubtedly that fingerprinting approaches generate huge datasets that need to be stored and utilised as effectively as possible; creating new opportunities for Big data analysis and the Internet of Things – both addressing the need to convert data into insights to act upon.