Low-Field NMR for Controlling “Vegan” Food Labelling: Retrospective Analysis of Dairy Products from Germany

The food industry is creating a diverse range of plant-based alternatives to dairy products, due to the increasing demand from consumers for more sustainable, healthy, and ethical products. Since such products are often more expensive than conventional cow’s milk products, quick, accurate and low-cost instrumental method is necessary to prove the labelling claim. The objective of the research was to examine the use of low-field ¹H-NMR spectroscopy at 80 MHz to differentiate between vegan and non-vegan dairy products as well as among different botanical origins of vegan products. More than 100 samples of vegan and non-vegan products (yoghurt, milk, (cooking) cream, cottage cheese and condensed milk), which are representative of the German market, were investigated. Carbohydrate profile, in particular lactose, glucose, sucrose and galactose, extracted in aqueous phase, can be used to differentiate lactose-free, lactose-containing and plant surrogates. Supplementary information is hidden in fatty acids profile of the investigated products. Exploratory analysis based on principal component analysis (PCA) confirmed and supplemented findings of visual spectra interpretation. Low-field NMR can be a quicker and cheaper alternative to conventional techniques for food label control from both animal and botanical origin.