Food Chemistry

Lecture Notes Introduction to food analysis Part 1

You are working in a food laboratory and
have been given a series of samples including
foods, beverages and ingredients. You are
required to analyse the food components. So
where do you start and what do you do?
The first question
What is the purpose of the analysis? It is
important to clarify this because the answer
will affect the method we choose and the way
we do an analysis.
Uses of data
It is also important to recognize that the
primary role of laboratory analytical data is
invariably to allow someone to make a
decision.
Reliability of data
It follows then that a suitable level of
reliability is needed if the correct decision is to
be made. Another way to say this is that your
boss or the person making a decision based
upon the data could make an inappropriate
decision if the data from your analysis is not
right.
Reasons for analyzing food components
There are many possible reasons. Examples
for analysis of food components include:
1) Legal or regulatory issues
There are standards which must be met. In
Australia these are set by Food Standards
Australia New Zealand and can be found in
the Australia New Zealand Food Standards
Code. Whenever there is a figure in these
regulations they are written as either
maximum or minimum values.
Examples would be: the dietary fibre content
must be more than 10g per kg. or
The sugar content must not exceed 15g per
kg.

If you are doing this sort of analysis then the

results might be used for deciding whether the
food meets the legal requirements. If it does
not then it should not be sold and the
manufacturer/seller can be fined for selling the
product.
2) Food labelling
Under current Australian standards the
packaging on most foods must include at least
some analytical data in the form of a nutrient
information panel. The required form is as
follows:

Nutrition Information
Servings per package: 1
Serving size: 210g
Quantity per serving

Quantity per 100g

Energy

2121kJ

1010kJ

Protein

19.1g

9.1g

Fat, total

25.2g

12.0g

- saturated

12.6g

6.0g

Carbohydrate

51.0g

24.3g

5.5g

2.6g

1008mg

480mg

- sugars
Sodium

The quality of analyses and calculations carried out

for labeling purposes are also really critical. Firstly,
consumers are making decisions (will I buy and eat
this product). Secondly if the analyses on the label
are clearly incorrect then they will be very
embarrassing. There may also be the expense of
replacing the large amount of packaging/labels.

3) Food compositional data

Analyses of foods are used to compile
comprehensive published tables. Some of
these are in book form and others are now
available on the world wide web. Again these
primarily assist consumers to choose foods to
meet their specific needs. They generally have
a nutritional basis and are used by nutritionists
and dieticians as the basis of advising
consumers.
4) Analyses for research purposes
Most companies are constantly involved in
research and development activities in an
effort to provide innovative and appealing
products in a cost effective manner. In this
case no-one outside the company will
necessarily see the data and the analyses used
might be quite different from some of those
used for the purposes described above.
5) Analyses for quality control/assurance
Here we are testing raw ingredients to
establish whether they are within our
companys specifications. The company may
use the results to decide that this delivery of
flour is suited to biscuit manufacture or to
some alternative end use.
Analysis results might also be used as the basis
for decisions as to whether some final product
meets the specifications used by the company
as quality criteria.

Comparisons of food analysis data

Following on from the various purposes of analysis, there are two common ways in which we
might choose to compare our own laboratory data for food products and ingredients.
Food composition data

Food regulations

Further issues on comparisons of analysis data

Firstly, there are now many sources of food compositional data. A comprehensive
bibliography is provided on the Food Chemistry website (folder bibliographies).