ANSTO supports seafood provenance project planning
Seafood products are among the most traded food commodities globally. However, fraud poses a major global challenge for the sector, costing billions of dollars and negatively impacting food security, the environment and businesses. As part of its Atoms4Food initiative, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is working on a project to help address some of these challenges in the global seafood sector by utilising nuclear analysis techniques.
In February 2025, ANSTO attended a meeting at the IAEA to discuss and produce recommendations for the development of a new Coordinated Research Project (CRP) on Seafood Origin and Authenticity using nuclear and related technologies to progress the IAEA initiative.
A total of 17 experts from Australia, Asia, Europe, Africa and Latin America, including experts from the IAEA and Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN, took part in the discussions about the development of the proposed Seafood Origin Authentication CRP.
Dr Debashish Mazumder, Project Lead for Food Provenance at ANSTO, participated in the consultation process, sharing details about ANSTO’s research in the application of nuclear analysis techniques to authenticate the origin of seafood.
ANSTO’s approach is based around the concept of isotopic and elemental fingerprints, which reflect the location where an animal was bred and fed or where a crop grew or was cultivated. The approach can be used to confirm the origin of a variety of foods, including seafood and traditional Aboriginal foods.
In recent work, ANSTO has worked with partners to develop a portable X-ray fluorescence scanner that can make assessments of samples at external sites. Its research on high-value seafood products, such as barramundi and giant tiger prawns, has reported good analytical results (>90%) for the nuclear-based techniques.
“Australia’s participation in the CRP will greatly enhance our understanding of provenance in the seafood supply chain and advance Australia’s contributions to achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals,” Mazumder said.
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