Milk and Dairy Products Authenticity

• Published in: Authenticity of Foods of Animal Origin Vol. 1; pp. 210 - 243
• Main Authors: Arvanitoyannis, Ioannis S., Kotsanopoulos, Konstantinos V.
• Format: Book Chapter
• Language: English
• Published: CRC Press 2016
• Edition: 1
• Subjects: Ty Pe; Radio Frequency Identifi Cation; Identifi Cation Number; RFID; Welsh Beef; Food Traceability; Bar Code; DNA Barcoding; Traceability System; RFID System; GTIN; RFID Technology; PLS; Native Chicken; Food Traceability Systems; EPC; Te Ch; Smart Phones; DAFM; Uniform Code Council; RFID Tag
• ISBN: 0367737418; 9780367737412; 9781498706414; 149870641X
• DOI: 10.1201/b19866-8

Both consumers and the food industry recognise the need for the development of measurement tools that would allow the effective characterisation of raw materials or final food. Dairy products such as milk, ice cream, yogurt, butter, cheese, etc., are in considerable demand, have premium prices and thus can be subject to economic adulteration. Authenticity of these products is of high significance for food processors, retailers, regulatory authorities and consumers. It is also very important for ensuring fair competition as well as for the protection of the consumers against fraud due to mislabelling (Karoui and De Baerdemaeker, 2007). The authentication of dairy products has become major issue, attracting the attention of scientists, producers, consumers, and policymakers. Among various others, some of the practices considered to lead to adulteration of milk and dairies include substituting a part of the fat or proteins, mixing milk of different species, adding low-cost dairy products (such as whey derivatives), or mislabelling of foodstuffs protected by denomination of origin. Various analytical techniques have been used for detecting frauds and have been repeatedly modified, and reassessed to be one step ahead of individuals/companies who pursue the above illegal activities. Some traditional techniques that are used for the assessment of the authenticity of dairy products include chromatography, electrophoretic, and immunoenzymatic techniques (Fuente and Juárez, 2005). Techniques have also been developed for the detection of contaminants in dairy products including methods for detecting artificial colours, hypochlorite and antibiotics (Kirk and Sawyer, 1991). New techniques such as capillary electrophoresis (CE), polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and isotope ratio mass spectrometry have also been recently employed (Fuente and Juárez, 2005). The establishment of chromatographic and electrophoretic methods has been performed to effectively determine cheese ripening and for detecting milk adulteration (Veloso et al., 2004). According to Moatsou and Anifantakis (2003) a high number of different cheeses are made from ovine milk, or from its mixtures with caprine milk, and are highly acceptable by consumers worldwide. The organoleptic and physicochemical characteristics of the cheeses are affected by the composition of the milk used as raw material. The seasonal production and the higher prices of caprine milk and ovine milk compared to bovine milk are the basic motive for the admixture of cheese milk with bovine milk. Moreover, the higher price of ovine milk and the existence of mixed flocks of goats and ewes can lead to the accidental or fraudulent substitution of ovine milk by caprine. However, the need for genuine products and accurate labels requires the establishment of certain protective measures against adulteration of milk species in dairy products. As a result, numerous analytical techniques, such as chromatographic, electrophoretic, immunological and, more recently, DNA-based techniques, have been implemented for detecting ovine and caprine milk adulteration and the majority of them rely on the analysis of milk protein fractions.