Adulteration of lemon juice by certain food manufacturers has been in the news recently and FDA was charged to investigate this incident. Based on consumer complaints received by FDA, bottled lemon juices labeled as 100% from concentrate were found to contain only about 10% to 35% of lemon juice. The reconstituted lemon juices were heavily adulterated with water. Citric acid and sugar were added to meet the minimum requirements of 4.5% titratable acidity as citric acid and 6% soluble solids, respectively, as per FDA regulation 21 CFR 146.114. This presentation provides an overview of the past and present physico-chemical and analytical approaches to authenticate lemon juice and detect adulterant markers such as organic acids, amino acids, sugars, phenolic compounds, etc., including novel detection methods being developed by FDA to address the economically-motivated adulteration of lemon juice.

Authentication and adulteration of lemon juice

248th National Meeting (2014)

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.