Food authentication in real life: How to link nontargeted approaches with routine analytics?

Abstract

In times of increasing globalization and the resulting complexity of trade flows, securing food quality is an increasing challenge. The development of analytical methods for checking the integrity and thus the safety of food is one of the central questions for actors from science, politics and industry. Targeted methods, for the detection of a few selected analytes, still play the most important role in routine analysis. In the past five years, non‐targeted methods that do not aim at individual analytes but on analyte profiles that are as comprehensive as possible have increasingly come into focus. Instead of investigating individual chemical structures, data patterns are collected, evaluated and, depending on the problem, fed into databases that can be used for further non‐targeted approaches. Alternatively, individual markers can be extracted and transferred to targeted methods. Such an approach requires (i) the availability of authentic reference material, (ii) the corresponding high‐resolution laboratory infrastructure and (iii) extensive expertise in processing and storing very large amounts of data. Probably due to the requirements mentioned above, only a few methods have really established themselves in routine analysis. This review article focuses on the establishment of non‐targeted methods in routine laboratories. Challenges are summarized and possible solutions are presented. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved