Certified Origins pushes NMR as food traceability standard

Certified Origins and the Hungarian Embassy in Rome convened diplomats, officials and farm groups on June 17, 2026, to build support for Nuclear Magnetic Resonance analysis as a global tool against food fraud and supply chain opacity. The company wants NMR to complement existing origin labels and give retailers and regulators a harder-to-fake way to verify where foods come from. Why it matters: - Food fraud, misleading marketing and illicit trade are pushing governments and brands to look for stronger verification tools. - Certified Origins says NMR could give olive oil, wine, honey and other high-value foods a harder-to-manipulate layer of origin proof. - Retailers using private-label programs could get a more concrete basis for claims about transparency and provenance. What happened: - The Hungarian Embassy in Rome and Certified Origins co-hosted a high-level roundtable on June 17, 2026. - The OSCAR Group, a diplomatic network of agricultural counselors and experts from foreign embassies in Italy, joined as a co-organizer. - A leading agricultural journalist moderated the session. - Diplomats, Italian and Spanish government officials, and representatives of Italian farming and milling associations attended. - The discussion focused on Nuclear Magnetic Resonance analysis for extra virgin olive oil traceability. The details: - Certified Origins has spent more than a decade investing in NMR applications with Prof. Francesco Paolo Fanizzi and the Metabolomics NMR Lab at the University of Salento. - The company uses high-resolution profiling technology, including Bruker NMR platforms, to establish geographic benchmarks. - NMR profiles cultivar, precise geographic origin and chemical composition at a molecular level. - Certified Origins describes NMR as a digital fingerprint that cannot be forged or manipulated. - The company urged government officials to formally adopt NMR as an official analytical method. - Certified Origins said NMR is meant to reinforce, not replace, existing quality frameworks. - NMR traceability is designed to run alongside PDO and PGI certifications. - The methodology is already positioned to scale beyond olive oil to wine, honey and other agricultural staples. - Giovanni Quaratesi of Certified Origins said the roundtable marked a milestone in a long-term effort to make scientific traceability the norm. - Certified Origins said it plans to bring the conversation to more forums and more stakeholders. Between the lines: - The push for NMR is also a standards fight, with Certified Origins trying to move a technical method from company use toward formal regulatory acceptance. - Pairing NMR with PDO and PGI suggests the company wants scientific verification to strengthen, rather than displace, Europe’s existing origin-label system. - The roundtable brought together public officials and industry groups, signaling that traceability is becoming a policy issue, not just a supply-chain issue. What’s next: - Certified Origins will continue lobbying for wider adoption of NMR as an official analytical standard. - The company plans to extend the discussion to additional stakeholders and venues. - Broader acceptance would position NMR for use across more food categories and more markets. The bottom line: - Certified Origins is trying to turn NMR from a specialized lab tool into a global anti-fraud standard for food provenance.