Current Progress and Future Trends of Genomics-Based Techniques for Food Adulteration Identification

Addressing the pervasive issue of food adulteration and fraud driven by economic interests has long presented a complex challenge. Such adulteration not only compromises the safety of the food supply chain and destabilizes the market economy but also poses significant risks to public health. Food ad...

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Main Authors: Jing Zhao, Wei Yang, Hongli Cai, Guangtian Cao, Zhanming Li
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-03-01
Series:Foods
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2304-8158/14/7/1116
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author Jing Zhao
Wei Yang
Hongli Cai
Guangtian Cao
Zhanming Li
author_facet Jing Zhao
Wei Yang
Hongli Cai
Guangtian Cao
Zhanming Li
author_sort Jing Zhao
collection DOAJ
description Addressing the pervasive issue of food adulteration and fraud driven by economic interests has long presented a complex challenge. Such adulteration not only compromises the safety of the food supply chain and destabilizes the market economy but also poses significant risks to public health. Food adulteration encompasses practices such as substitution, process manipulation, mislabeling, the introduction of undeclared ingredients, and the adulteration of genetically modified foods. Given the diverse range of deceptive methods employed, genomics-based identification techniques have increasingly been utilized for detecting food adulteration. Compared to traditional detection methods, technologies such as polymerase chain reaction (PCR), next-generation sequencing (NGS), high-resolution melt (HRM) analysis, DNA barcoding, and the CRISPR–Cas system have demonstrated efficacy in accurately and sensitively detecting even trace amounts of adulterants. This paper provides an overview of genomics-based approaches for identifying food adulteration, summarizes the latest applications in certification procedures, discusses current limitations, and explores potential future trends, thereby offering new insights to enhance the control of food quality and contributing to the development of more robust regulatory frameworks and food safety policies.
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spelling doaj-art-4bb43303fc6f48ae9c9930d3334e491a2025-08-20T02:15:58ZengMDPI AGFoods2304-81582025-03-01147111610.3390/foods14071116Current Progress and Future Trends of Genomics-Based Techniques for Food Adulteration IdentificationJing Zhao0Wei Yang1Hongli Cai2Guangtian Cao3Zhanming Li4School of Grain Science and Technology, Jiangsu University of Science and Technology, Zhenjiang 212100, ChinaGuangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Aquatic Products Processing and Safety, College of Food Science and Technology, Guangdong Ocean University, Zhanjiang 524088, ChinaCollege of Life Sciences and Medicine, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Hangzhou 310018, ChinaCollege of Standardisation, China Jiliang Universtiy, Hangzhou 310058, ChinaSchool of Grain Science and Technology, Jiangsu University of Science and Technology, Zhenjiang 212100, ChinaAddressing the pervasive issue of food adulteration and fraud driven by economic interests has long presented a complex challenge. Such adulteration not only compromises the safety of the food supply chain and destabilizes the market economy but also poses significant risks to public health. Food adulteration encompasses practices such as substitution, process manipulation, mislabeling, the introduction of undeclared ingredients, and the adulteration of genetically modified foods. Given the diverse range of deceptive methods employed, genomics-based identification techniques have increasingly been utilized for detecting food adulteration. Compared to traditional detection methods, technologies such as polymerase chain reaction (PCR), next-generation sequencing (NGS), high-resolution melt (HRM) analysis, DNA barcoding, and the CRISPR–Cas system have demonstrated efficacy in accurately and sensitively detecting even trace amounts of adulterants. This paper provides an overview of genomics-based approaches for identifying food adulteration, summarizes the latest applications in certification procedures, discusses current limitations, and explores potential future trends, thereby offering new insights to enhance the control of food quality and contributing to the development of more robust regulatory frameworks and food safety policies.https://www.mdpi.com/2304-8158/14/7/1116food adulterationhigh-resolution melt analysisDNA barcodingfood authenticationCRISPR–Cas system
spellingShingle Jing Zhao
Wei Yang
Hongli Cai
Guangtian Cao
Zhanming Li
Current Progress and Future Trends of Genomics-Based Techniques for Food Adulteration Identification
Foods
food adulteration
high-resolution melt analysis
DNA barcoding
food authentication
CRISPR–Cas system
title Current Progress and Future Trends of Genomics-Based Techniques for Food Adulteration Identification
title_full Current Progress and Future Trends of Genomics-Based Techniques for Food Adulteration Identification
title_fullStr Current Progress and Future Trends of Genomics-Based Techniques for Food Adulteration Identification
title_full_unstemmed Current Progress and Future Trends of Genomics-Based Techniques for Food Adulteration Identification
title_short Current Progress and Future Trends of Genomics-Based Techniques for Food Adulteration Identification
title_sort current progress and future trends of genomics based techniques for food adulteration identification
topic food adulteration
high-resolution melt analysis
DNA barcoding
food authentication
CRISPR–Cas system
url https://www.mdpi.com/2304-8158/14/7/1116
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