Investigate ingredient quality, contamination and potential adulteration with microscopic screening
7 May 2026 | Gemma Dale, Microscopy Supervisor
Disruption to supply chains, the threat of food fraud, and variation in ingredient availability and quality all continue to challenge the food and beverage industry.
If quality issues or potential contamination or adulteration are of concern, how can you investigate? Here we look at how microscopy can help.
Same ingredients, new suppliers
As profit margins are squeezed and markets become more competitive, food manufacturers may look to other suppliers. Acquiring ingredients from a new supplier can come with uncertainties around quality and variability.
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Similarly, differences in an existing product’s performance (such as quality no longer being consistent) following a change of ingredient supplier can raise concerns.
Looking for price reductions or lower cost ingredients can also bring food fraud concerns to the fore. Whether or not they are a deliberate outcome, there are many food safety risks associated with food fraud. For example, adulteration of raw materials may be used in fraudulent attempts to boost profits through lower costs or increased bulk (many adulterating agents are used, including those that are allergenic, putting allergic consumers at risk).
If any of these issues are concerns of yours, how can you begin to investigate?
Our scientists have a wide range of expertise and analytical techniques at their disposal to help you navigate these issues and determine whether you are getting the ingredients that you paid for.
Investigating ingredients via microscopy can determine the presence of foreign bodies, other contaminants or adulterants, or extraneous material.
Microscopic screening
Microscopic screening is the process of determining the presence of foreign or extraneous matter in a given food material with high powered microscopes.
...we can provide valuable information which may indicate that an ingredient has been adulterated, or contaminated.
A combination of stereo light microscopy and compound microscopy can be used to identify microscopic structures in detail. From this, we can provide valuable information which may indicate that an ingredient has been adulterated or contaminated.
What sort of issues can microscopic screening investigate?
Microscopic screening is performed on samples of a given food or drink material. It can be applied to a wide variety of sample types. Just some of the many examples are below, including the types of issues we would typically be looking for in each case.
These include:
- tea blends which may contain small particles of foreign matter, such as fibres (synthetic or natural), excreta and insects
- ingredients containing extraneous matter, such as species waste which belong to the plant associated with the product but are an undesirable inclusion (e.g. stalks, stems, husks)
- spices such as coriander or cumin which are at risk of being bulked out with other, cheaper ingredients (for example, peanut and almond shells)
- ground nut flour being used to bulk out almond flour as a cheaper alternative
- chickpea flour bulked out with potato starch
- white pepper containing black pepper
Microscopic screening helps you begin your investigation into whether your product may have been bulked out with other ingredients. But what if you’re looking for a non-food contaminant such as metal or glass?
We regularly conduct identification of foreign bodies / physical contaminants, such as fibres, metal, plastic, bone, rubbers, glass and more, by light microscopy coupled with X-ray microanalysis (using scanning electron microscopy) and Fourier-transform infrared FT-IR spectroscopy.
X-ray microanalysis uses a focused beam of electrons to produce X-rays, which are diagnostic of the elemental composition of a sample. FT-IR spectroscopy, however, uses a focused infrared beam to determine the chemical composition of a sample. These analytical tools can also be used in non-food products.
How can we help?
Microscopic screening is just one of the ways we can assist you in identifying the presence of contaminants in your products.
If you have a foreign body or other contamination issue in need of investigation, or are concerned about adulteration / food fraud, get in touch to find out more about our microscopic screening and other services.
Across our wide range of testing and consultancy services, we can help you find the support to fit your needs.
How can we help you?
Get in touch for support with investigating quality, contamination and potential adulteration.
Download our FREE ‘Beating Food Crime’ eBook today!
Win the fight against food crime – successfully defend your business against food fraud and malicious attacks.
