TOFoo: a project to guarantee the authenticity of organic products through non-targeted analyses

Despite a strong control system based on strict specifications, European regulations and certification systems, the organic food sector remains vulnerable to fraudulent practices. This leads to a lack of consumer confidence to the detriment of all organic stakeholders. Moreover, differences in the chemical composition between organic and conventional products are well identified in the scientific literature. On this basis, the collaborative R&D project TOFoo aims to develop non-targeted analyses to guarantee the authenticity of organic products and reassure stakeholders and consumers at the end. The project began in July 2020, over a period of 5,5 years , and brings together academic institutions and industrial partners from food analysis laboratory to digital sectors.

A few dozen of plant and dairy products, raw or minimally processed, were selected. For each product, several hundred samples were collected and analysed using non-targeted and multi-technical methods like NMR and IRMS. Their overall analytical fingerprints were used to build databases. Statistical analysis of these data enabled the elaboration of mathematical models to discriminate organic and conventional products.

The first available results concern tomatoes and UHT milk, for which this new analytical methodology was efficient in ranking samples according to their organic or conventional production process. This non-targeted solution highlighted intrinsic characteristics linked to cultivation or feeding practices specific to the organic sector.

In conclusion, by giving tangible evidence of composition differences between organic and conventional products, analyses developed as part of TOFoo project can contribute to improve the attractiveness of organic products and preserve consumer confidence.