A Public Analyst’s

Perspective

Elizabeth Moran

MSc MChemA CChem FRSC

President of the Association of

Public Analysts

Public analysts are individuals appointed by

enforcement authorities under The Food Safety

Act.

They must possess a Mastership in Chemical

Analysis qualification, a unique combination of

analytical chemistry and law, awarded by the

Royal Society of Chemistry.

Introduction

UK Statistics

29 Public Analysts currently working in the UK

17 Public Analyst Laboratories (mixture of public

and private):

• England - 9

• Scotland - 4

• Wales - 3

• Northern Ireland – 1

Food Enforcement

• 433 local authorities in the UK are responsible

for enforcing food safety and standards laws.

• They sample food and submit it for analysis to

their appointed public analyst.

• The public analyst directs the analysis and

assesses the results and label against

legislation and comes to an opinion as to

whether the product is legally compliant.

• Any type of food may be submitted for any type of test

and public analysts must be able to react quickly to

developing issues

• It is not possible to test all foods or to test a food for

everything

Food Enforcement

Food Enforcement

• Public analysts have a very wide range of experience in different areas of food analysis

• Specialist scientists such as molecular biologists and mass spectrometrists also work in public analyst laboratories

Case Study

Undeclared Horse in Beef Products in Europe

• In the years leading up to 2013 enforcement and industry were not routinely testing meat products for horse species

• Long and complex supply chains

• Reliance on paperwork for traceability

• Lack of public resources to test foods for foreign species

Horse

Analytical challenges for public analysts:

• Methodology: Proteins or DNA?

• Reagents: Difficult to get at first

• Quality: Most labs were not specifically accredited for horse

Analytical Tools to Combat Food Fraud

• DNA Profile

• Isotope Ratios

• Mass spectrometry

• Proteomics

• Genomics

Analytical Tools to Combat Food Fraud

• The instrumentation required to detect food

fraud is very expensive and requires

substantial investment

• Most public analysts have access to ELISA,

real-time PCR and mass spectrometry

• No UK public analyst lab has DNA sequencing

or isotope analysis capability

Analytical Tools to Combat Food Fraud

Public analysts can access this methodology:

• In larger publicly-funded organisations e.g.

Fera, who act as National Reference

Laboratory in various areas

• In the private sector, e.g. Public Analyst

Scientific Services is part of the Eurofins group

• Public analysts see the food

types going through the lab

and the problems with them

• Sample data is stored on

Laboratory Information

Management Systems (LIMS)

and can easily be queried

• Public analysts use the

national samples database

(UKFSS) to gather intelligence

and observe trends

Intelligence

How Can Science Help Prevent Food Fraud?

Solutions

• Harmonisation of analytical

techniques and standards

• Markers which can be

detected analytically

• DNA databases for animals

used in food chain

• Smart food packaging

The Future

Legislation Update 14

• Collaborative working

between Public Analysts

and the Food Standards

Agency and Defra

• Closer links with

enforcement bodies in the

European Union and

further afield

Elizabeth Moran

MSc MChemA CChem FRSC

President of the Association of

Public Analysts

Tel. 07535 712827

lizmoran@publicanalystservices.co.uk