NMR FoodScreener

Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) measures a characteristic peak for each compound in a mixture. Using this data, it can provide simultaneous identification and quantification of all components of a sample. The NMR profile is checked against libraries of authentic samples, analysed under the same conditions, to identify whether any required constituent parts are missing or whether any additional unexpected ingredients are present.

The Bruker FoodScreener platform tailors this NMR technology specifically for the analysis of foods that are most commonly the subject of food fraud – honey, wine and juice. It is indispensable for quality control monitoring and testing for purity and authenticity issues. 

The FoodScreener leverages the power of a database containing data on tens of thousands of authentic reference samples and can detect many types of food fraud including:

• substitution
• addition
• tampering
• misrepresentation or mislabelling.

The NMR FoodScreener runs targeted and non-targeted analysis at the same time using the same sample. The targeted analysis allows simultaneous quantification of multiple organic compounds. The non-targeted analysis compares the sample’s spectral data with those in the database to allow verification of grape or fruit variety, origin, and the vintage, for example. 

The FoodScreener NMR spectral profiles are unique and can be used as chemical ‘fingerprints’. 

FoodScreener analyses are highly reproducible and can be repeated by other independent labs around the globe (Europe, China, North America, and Australia) allowing for standardised, globally verifiable testing.