UK Gov Chemist Reports Advances in Food Fraud Detection, Chemical Safety Findings
The UK Government Chemist has published its Government Chemist Review 2025, highlighting developments in food safety, authenticity testing, and analytical methods for detecting food fraud, allergens, and chemical contaminants. The report detailed the Government Chemist's activities, including food chemical safety regulatory compliance testing, research and development, and scientific advisory work.
The Government Chemist serves as an independent referee laboratory, resolving disputes over analytical findings between regulators and food businesses.
Resolved Regulatory Compliance Disputes
In 2025, the Government Chemist received seven referee cases involving food and feed safety and regulatory compliance.
Cases included disputes over mercury in animal feed, ethylene oxide residues in cumin, anthraquinone in curry powder, aflatoxins in dried fruit, and formaldehyde migration from melamine kitchenware.
Referee analysis confirmed that cumin contained approximately 0.22 milligrams per kilogram (mg/kg) of 2-chloroethanol, expressed as ethylene oxide, exceeding the permitted maximum residue level of 0.1 mg/kg.
Testing also determined that melamine kitchenware failed applicable stability requirements due to increasing formaldehyde migration during repeated testing, although measured levels remained below the maximum permitted migration limit.
Conversely, referee analysis found that disputed samples of animal feed, curry powder, and dried fruit complied with applicable contaminant limits.
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Advances in Food Authenticity Testing and Fraud Detection
The Government Chemist also reported progress in developing rapid analytical methods for detecting food adulteration.
Using Atmospheric Solid Analysis Probe Mass Spectrometry (ASAP-MS) and chemometric modeling, researchers achieved approximately 95.6 percent classification accuracy for olive oil, detecting adulteration at concentrations as low as 10 percent.
Additionally, the methods were able to distinguish seven meat species and detect meat adulteration at levels as low as 5 percent within five minutes, with further validation using processed foods and ready meals.
The Government Chemist also developed a framework for evaluating honey authenticity databases, addressing concerns about transparency, data representativeness, and analytical method validation. The framework is expected to support more reliable authenticity assessments and regulatory enforcement.
Emerging Chemical Food Safety Challenges
The report highlighted several emerging analytical challenges:
- Allergen detection: Investigations into mustard testing identified difficulties distinguishing allergenic mustard from charlock and other related plant species, potentially complicating allergen labeling and enforcement
- Novel proteins: Validated DNA-based methods were developed to identify insect species in raw and processed foods, supporting authenticity testing, traceability, and allergen risk management
- Food packaging contaminants: Research found that increasing recycled content in polyethylene terephthalate (PET) packaging was generally associated with higher levels of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and other chemical contaminants
- Artificial intelligence (AI): A featured analysis described AI applications in pathogen identification, outbreak investigations, laboratory analysis, and risk-based inspections, while emphasizing data quality, transparency, validation, and human oversight.
The report also emphasized the need for improved analytical methods, reference materials, and laboratory capabilities to support regulatory oversight of novel foods, emerging contaminants, and increasingly complex global food supply chains.
