The Journey of Artificial Intelligence in Food Authentication: From Label Attribute to Fraud Detection

Artificial intelligence (AI) tends to be extensively used to develop reliable, fast, and inexpensive tools for authenticity control. Initially applied for food differentiation as an alternative to statistical methods, AI tools opened a new dimension in adulteration identification based on images. Th...

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Main Authors: Dana Alina Magdas, Ariana Raluca Hategan, Maria David, Camelia Berghian-Grosan
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-05-01
Series:Foods
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2304-8158/14/10/1808
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author Dana Alina Magdas
Ariana Raluca Hategan
Maria David
Camelia Berghian-Grosan
author_facet Dana Alina Magdas
Ariana Raluca Hategan
Maria David
Camelia Berghian-Grosan
author_sort Dana Alina Magdas
collection DOAJ
description Artificial intelligence (AI) tends to be extensively used to develop reliable, fast, and inexpensive tools for authenticity control. Initially applied for food differentiation as an alternative to statistical methods, AI tools opened a new dimension in adulteration identification based on images. This comprehensive review aims to emphasize the main pillars for applying AI for food authentication: (i) food classification; (ii) detection of subtle adulteration through extraneous ingredient addition/substitution; and (iii) fast recognition tools development based on image processing. As opposed to statistical methods, AI proves to be a valuable tool for quality and authenticity assessment, especially for input data represented by digital images. This review highlights the successful application of AI on data obtained through laborious, highly sensitive analytical methods up to very easy-to-record data by non-experimented personnel (i.e., image acquisition). The enhanced capability of AI can substitute the need for expensive and time-consuming analysis to generate the same conclusion.
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institution Kabale University
issn 2304-8158
language English
publishDate 2025-05-01
publisher MDPI AG
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series Foods
spelling doaj-art-a40f98dc0f5949d29afccd9357ae7af32025-08-20T03:47:58ZengMDPI AGFoods2304-81582025-05-011410180810.3390/foods14101808The Journey of Artificial Intelligence in Food Authentication: From Label Attribute to Fraud DetectionDana Alina Magdas0Ariana Raluca Hategan1Maria David2Camelia Berghian-Grosan3National Institute for Research and Development of Isotopic and Molecular Technologies, 67-103 Donat Street, 400293 Cluj-Napoca, RomaniaNational Institute for Research and Development of Isotopic and Molecular Technologies, 67-103 Donat Street, 400293 Cluj-Napoca, RomaniaNational Institute for Research and Development of Isotopic and Molecular Technologies, 67-103 Donat Street, 400293 Cluj-Napoca, RomaniaNational Institute for Research and Development of Isotopic and Molecular Technologies, 67-103 Donat Street, 400293 Cluj-Napoca, RomaniaArtificial intelligence (AI) tends to be extensively used to develop reliable, fast, and inexpensive tools for authenticity control. Initially applied for food differentiation as an alternative to statistical methods, AI tools opened a new dimension in adulteration identification based on images. This comprehensive review aims to emphasize the main pillars for applying AI for food authentication: (i) food classification; (ii) detection of subtle adulteration through extraneous ingredient addition/substitution; and (iii) fast recognition tools development based on image processing. As opposed to statistical methods, AI proves to be a valuable tool for quality and authenticity assessment, especially for input data represented by digital images. This review highlights the successful application of AI on data obtained through laborious, highly sensitive analytical methods up to very easy-to-record data by non-experimented personnel (i.e., image acquisition). The enhanced capability of AI can substitute the need for expensive and time-consuming analysis to generate the same conclusion.https://www.mdpi.com/2304-8158/14/10/1808food authenticationprocessing strategiesartificial intelligencefood adulterationimage processing
spellingShingle Dana Alina Magdas
Ariana Raluca Hategan
Maria David
Camelia Berghian-Grosan
The Journey of Artificial Intelligence in Food Authentication: From Label Attribute to Fraud Detection
Foods
food authentication
processing strategies
artificial intelligence
food adulteration
image processing
title The Journey of Artificial Intelligence in Food Authentication: From Label Attribute to Fraud Detection
title_full The Journey of Artificial Intelligence in Food Authentication: From Label Attribute to Fraud Detection
title_fullStr The Journey of Artificial Intelligence in Food Authentication: From Label Attribute to Fraud Detection
title_full_unstemmed The Journey of Artificial Intelligence in Food Authentication: From Label Attribute to Fraud Detection
title_short The Journey of Artificial Intelligence in Food Authentication: From Label Attribute to Fraud Detection
title_sort journey of artificial intelligence in food authentication from label attribute to fraud detection
topic food authentication
processing strategies
artificial intelligence
food adulteration
image processing
url https://www.mdpi.com/2304-8158/14/10/1808
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