Verifying important origin and sourcing information for food products. We test physical products to verify that they originate from the claimed location.
Verifying food authenticity
We are not a typical scientific lab focused on routine sample analysis that delivers a ‘sample in, result out service. While the analytical test is central to what we offer, it is just one part of a broader service that leverages our team’s diverse skills, including forensic investigation, analytical chemistry, strategic communication, and GIS expertise.
Our food verification service is designed to address the unique challenges of your supply chain, ensuring that our testing aligns with your broader due diligence objectives.
Food testing to highlight mislabelling
Printing false or misleading information on product packaging can pose a significant risk to key stakeholders, particularly consumers. This includes mislabelling terms such as:
- Product of…
- Made in…
- Sustainably sourced.
- Organically grown.
Want to review potential mislabelling? Speak to our team.
Reduce the chance of food fraud and misreporting
Our food authenticity testing helps reduce the chance of misreporting happening in your supply chain, which can become a key stakeholder risk for investors and your board members. We help companies test products to ensure they:
- Are sourced from deforestation-free plantations.
- Come from sustainable fisheries.
- Are sourced from sow stall-free suppliers.
How do we complete food supply tests?
At Source Certain, we verify the link between origin and product through our origin verification services.
Origin Information
When it comes to the origin of food, information can be deliberately or unintentionally altered.
We verify critical food origin information, which is typically based on geolocation data, physical documentation, digital documentation, or chain-of-custody records.
These may be country-based claims (Product of Italy), regional claims (Hawkes Bay Quince Paste), or granular claims, such as verifying geolocation coordinates for a certified plantation.
Product Information
At a product level, products can be substituted, mislabelled or adulterated, so we want to run tests of the physical products before they reach the shelf.
We analyse a sample of the physical product void of packaging, labels and influencing claims.
Our laboratory operates independently to track and identify anti-counterfeit packaging providers.
If the elemental profile of the product and the elemental profile of the sample we collected from the claimed origin match, we can verify the product origin.
Why Source Certain for food authenticity testing?
Trusted Science
We rely on two globally accepted and trusted methods for origin determination: trace element analysis (TEA) and stable isotope analysis (SIRA). Learn more about the science behind origin testing.
Linking physical products to data
We verify origin information by analysing product samples using TEA and SIRA and comparing the results to a secure reference database.
Confidence in origin
We build confidence in the origin information attached to the food products entering your supply chain.
Accurate Information Sharing
We ensure that the sourcing information communicated to stakeholders is accurate.
What analytical techniques do we use for food authentication
The testing market offers two key scientific technologies to determine the origin of products. We are skilled practitioners in both trace element analysis and stable isotope ratio analysis, also known as isotope testing.
By combining these two technologies, we can harness their respective strengths and deliver more reliable and specific food origin results compared to other providers.
Trace Element Analysis (TEA)
- TEA involves identifying and quantifying trace levels of chemical elements present in a physical product sample.
- TEA can detect and measure elements at parts-per-million (ppm) and parts-per-billion (ppb) levels.
- TEA can produce a farm and plantation-level verification of origin.
Stable Isotope Ratio Analysis (SIRA)
- SIRA refers to the analysis of isotope ratios.
- The technology is used in ecology, climate science, biogeochemistry, hydrology, forensic science, anthropology, and atmospheric chemistry.
- SIRA is limited to country-level verification
Request food origin verification services
Contact us for a confidential conversation about your supply chain and discover how our services can build confidence in origin information.