New software launched by Waters Corporation

Waters Corporation has launched LiveID Software for near-instantaneous, direct-from-sample measurement and classification of food products, including meat and crops. The new software enables Waters Xevo G2-XS QT, equipped with an iKnife Sampling device, to help laboratories detect food fraud. The LiveID Software is available globally.

Ronan O’Malley, senior director, informatics products, Waters Corporation said that information on food samples separated from where it is needed most isn’t efficient and hurts productivity. The company has designed LiveID Software to make the process of getting real-time information about samples as intuitive, quick and easy as possible.

He also added that food fraud, wherein food is labelled and sold as something that it is not, is a growing and pernicious problem. It cheats consumers and jeopardises the reputation of food producers and the health of economies dependent on food exports.

In recent years, QT of mass spectrometry has emerged as a promising technique for detecting food fraud. Chris Elliott, director, Institute for Global Food Security, Queens University, Belfast One, has pioneered its use for this application.

Elliott said that the REIMS QT technology platform has the potential to revolutionise food authenticity analysis due to its speed and ability to simultaneously detect multiple issues that impact the integrity of the food we eat. He is not aware of any other technology development that will provide this level of support to the food industry.

Faster than conventional techniques like immunosassay and PCR, mass spectrometry, LiveID Software produces definitive results in seconds. With iKnife Sampling and REIMS, no sample pre-treatment or separation is typically necessary.

When the hand-held iKnife sampling device comes in contact with a sample of animal or plant tissue or other processed foodstuffs, such as butter, it creates smoke containing compound-specific molecules, which are directed to the REIMS source where the molecules are ionised and then passed on to be detected by the mass spectrometer.

In a short span of time, the LiveID software creates a molecular profile or chemical fingerprint of the sample, compares it to a user-generated database of reference fingerprints and classifies the sample as belonging to one of a number of sample types.