A series of food safety crises, including melamine contamination in pet foods; E coli-tainted spinach, peppers and green onions; and a Salmonella typhimurium outbreak in peanut products have transformed food analysts from vigilant sentries into veritable centurions stridently safeguarding the quality, regulatory compliance and safety of our food.

Using DNA barcoding technology, University of Guelph researchers have found that 25 per cent of fish are mislabelled and in a majority of the cases, the fillets are sold as species of higher values.