Suchergebnisse

Spices, seasonings, herbs are all products that are generally added to both fresh and processed food to enhance flavour. With documents showing trade in spices as early as 3000 BC, the spice trade itself can be considered as one of the earliest drivers of globalisation. More recently, the global spices and seasoning market has been valued at around USD 12.7 billion in 2012 and is expected to grow to about USD 16.6 billion by the end of 2019 (source: www.statista.com). Among the forces pushing up consumption in spices are the perceived health benefits. Spices contain plant-derived chemical compounds that have been shown to help prevent certain diseases. With concern among the general population about side effects of commonly used drugs, interest is shifting towards other forms of medicine such as Ayurvedic and Traditional Chinese medicines, which focus on the use of herbs and spices. This chapter provides a detailed review of current legislation defining spices, the problems of fraud that the spice industry faces, and potential analytical methods to deal with authenticity issues. Because of its importance as one of the most expensive spices, saffron is dealt both in the general chapter on spices and in its own chapter, where more details on analytical methods for saffron authentication are given.

The preservative sodium nitrite is added to processed meat with the intention of preventing the growth of Clostridium botulinum, but this also influences product flavour and colour. The World Health Organisation has declared nitrites to be 'probably carcinogenic'. Use is permitted by the European Union but its addition is limited to 100 mg/kg in all processed meat, except bacon, which is limited to 175 mg/kg. At present, there is no independent peer-reviewed literature assessing the residual nitrite levels in bacon in the United Kingdom. Furthermore, this is the largest study of residual nitrite concentrations in bacon that has ever been conducted. A total of 89 different commercially available bacon samples were collected, and analysed using flow injection analysis to determine their residual nitrite content. The mean residual nitrite concentration for all bacon samples was 10.80 mg/kg. Residual nitrite levels did not differ between smoked and unsmoked bacon. Middle cut bacon (26.00 mg/kg) had significantly higher residual nitrite concentrations than back bacon (8.87 mg/kg; p = 0.027), and medallion bacon (4.47 mg/kg; p = 0.008). This study shows that there is large variation in the mean residual nitrite levels of bacon sold in the UK and all the reported values are within current regulatory limits. Despite this, it appears that many manufacturers could decrease the amount that they are currently using in their products.

The preservative sodium nitrite is added to processed meat with the intention of preventing the growth of Clostridium botulinum, but this also influences product flavour and colour. The World Health Organisation has declared nitrites to be 'probably carcinogenic'. Use is permitted by the European Union but its addition is limited to 100 mg/kg in all processed meat, except bacon, which is limited to 175 mg/kg. At present, there is no independent peer-reviewed literature assessing the residual nitrite levels in bacon in the United Kingdom. Furthermore, this is the largest study of residual nitrite concentrations in bacon that has ever been conducted. A total of 89 different commercially available bacon samples were collected, and analysed using flow injection analysis to determine their residual nitrite content. The mean residual nitrite concentration for all bacon samples was 10.80 mg/kg. Residual nitrite levels did not differ between smoked and unsmoked bacon. Middle cut bacon (26.00 mg/kg) had significantly higher residual nitrite concentrations than back bacon (8.87 mg/kg; p = 0.027), and medallion bacon (4.47 mg/kg; p = 0.008). This study shows that there is large variation in the mean residual nitrite levels of bacon sold in the UK and all the reported values are within current regulatory limits. Despite this, it appears that many manufacturers could decrease the amount that they are currently using in their products.