ABSTRACT
Labeling and traceability of imported food products in European countries became a legal obligation on January 1st, 2005 (EU Regulation 178/2002). The consumers are becoming more and more sensitive to the origin and the quality of foodstuffs.
Food industry uses commonly simple traceability systems supported by the billing system of bar codes. There is no existing efficient analytical technique which can permit determination of the origin of foods and follow them during processing as well as international trade. In this chapter, a molecular technique called PCR-DGGE (Polymerase Chain Reaction-Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis) permits to link some pertinent microbiological markers to the origin of food.
These markers are microorganisms which are isolated from the environment of the food. Analysis of the obtained PCR-DGGE data will assure the link between microbial ecology and geographical origin of the foods.
This chapter showed that DNA band profiles from bacteria, yeasts and molds communities isolated from fish, salts, nuts or fruits obtained by PCR-DGGE are strongly related to the microbial environment of fish and fruits. These biomarkers are statistically specific from places of production and to techniques used and could be applied to differentiate the geographical origins of food.
