FOOD & DRINK TECHNOLOGY 35
“Tis effort on the part of Agilent is of extraordinary importance to the FDA,” said Eric W Brown, director, division of microbiology, FDA.
“We expect this collaboration will be an important step in the development of new and specific tools for tracking bacterial pathogens in foods.”
Te second part of the agreement - to be carried out in collaboration with both the FDA and the Campden BRI laboratory in the UK - aims to update Agilent’s lab-on-a-chip method of DNA analysis to identify fish species.
Agilent’s analytical technique can identify species even after the fish has been processed, which generally removes identifying features such as the head, tail and skin.
Mislabelling
Te technology is based on the Agilent Bioanalyser, using restriction fragment length polymorphism. Te goal is to make this technology fast,
inexpensive and simple enough that many kinds of laboratories can use it on a routine basis.
Tis type of test could detect such things as intentional mislabelling to avoid tariffs and import restrictions or economic fraud where a less expensive species of fish is sold as a more costly species.
“We’re very pleased to be collaborating with the FDA, because this work holds tremendous potential for solving some very challenging threats to the safety and integrity of the food supply,” said Paul Zavitsanos, Agilent global food safety manager.
“Tere’s real value in applying biological analysis techniques to food safety, and this collaboration advances our shared vision.”
Animal carcinogen Meanwhile new laboratory chemical analyses have found that Coca-Cola, Pepsi-Cola, Diet Coke, and Diet Pepsi contain high levels
of 4-methylimidazole (4-MI), a known animal carcinogen. Te carcinogen forms when ammonia or ammonia and sulphites are used to manufacture the caramel colouring that gives those sodas their distinctive brown colours, according to the US Centre for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), the non-profit watchdog group that commissioned the tests. CSPI first petitioned the FDA to ban ammonia-sulphite caramel colouring in February 2011.
CSPI has reiterated its call to the FDA to revoke its authorisation for caramel colourings that contain 4-MI, and in the interim to change the name of the additive to ‘ammonia-sulphite process caramel colouring’ or ‘chemically modified caramel colouring’ for labelling purposes.
In response, Pepsi told CSPI that it has switched to a colouring in California that contains much less 4-MI and plans to do the same in the rest of the country.
“The worldwide market for Halal food products represents
US$635b (€485b) of the US$4 trillion (€3.1b) spent annually on food supplies worldwide, with Asian countries accounting for over 60 per cent of that expenditure.”
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30-04-2012 10:56:04
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