Composition of the working group
The working group has existed since July 2001 and is open to expert members who deal with the analysis and assessment of stable isotope ratios, particularly from the following areas:
- Federal authorities
- Commercial laboratories
- Industry/Industrial Associations
- State investigation facilities
- Universities
The working group members meet twice a year (2nd/4th quarter).
General objectives
- Standardization and optimization of measurement methods
- Provision and establishment of reference substances, standards
- Preparation of scientific position papers on methods and assessment criteria
- Exchange and cooperation, especially with other LChG working groups and other scientific bodies such as § 64 AG “IRMS”, CEN/TC 460/WG 6 “Stable Isotope Analysis” in CEN/TC 460 Food Authenticity, working group NA-057-08-02-06 “Stable Isotope Analysis” in DIN working committee NA-057-08-02 AA “Food Authenticity” and the NRZ Authent
- Generation and collection of basic data for assessing stable isotope ratios
- Support and scientific advice in the development of databases
- Provision of information and training
Head of the working group
Chairwoman
Dr. Antje Schellenberg
Bavarian State Office for
Health and food safety
Veterinary Street 2
85764 Oberschleißheim
Tel.: 09131 6808-5586
antje.schellenberg@lgl.bayern.de
Deputy Chairman
Dr. Wolfgang Armbruster
University of Hohenheim
Institute of food chemistry
and analytical chemistry
armbrust@uni-hohenheim.de
Secretary
Anja Prätzel
Silesia Gerhard Hanke GmbH & Co. KG
anja.praetzel@silesia.com
Term of office 2026 - 2028
areas of work
Use of multi-element / multi-component stable isotope analysis, in particular isotope ratio mass spectrometry (stable isotope analysis) and deuterium nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) to determine the origin and authenticity of food, especially for
- Beverages (e.g. fruit juice, wine, beer, liquors)
- Plant-based foods (e.g. fruits, vegetables, oils)
- Animal foods (e.g. milk, dairy products, eggs, meat, fish, honey)
- flavorings, Flavors
Current topics
- Standardization, interlaboratory tests on methods of measurement and sample preparation for stable stable isotope analysis analysis and assessment of vanillin and vanilla flavors
- Calibration of stable isotope ratio measurements with reference standards
- Apple Juice Database
- Cooperation with the § 64 AG 'IRMS' in the creation of a general method for oxygen measurement of liquids with equilibration IRMS -
Position and policy papers
Position papers
- Verification of the authenticity of vanilla flavours (2023) ( pdf )
- Isolation of the protein fraction from milk for analysis of stable isotope ratios (2020) ( pdf )
- Intra and inter laboratory reference materials for multi element stable isotope analysis in food authentication (2018) ( pdf )
- Possibilities and limitations of oxygen isotope analysis of water in determining the origin of food (2009) ( pdf )
- Tasks and possibilities of isotope ratio analysis in the origin and authenticity investigation of meat (2007) ( pdf )
- Position paper: Possibilities for distinguishing between foods from conventional and organic production using isotope ratio analysis (2005) ( pdf )
Basic paper
Basic paper of the Working Group Flavorings and the Working Group Stable Isotope Analysis: Vanilla flavors origin, analysis and characterization of vanilla components (2022) ( pdf ) Correction note (2022) ( pdf )
Origin and authenticity of vanilla flavours (of the LChG working groups "flavorings" and "stable isotope analysis") (2010) - no longer current
