Chapter 8
Yerba Mate, the Global Commerce,
and Possible Adulteration. The Current
Situation and New Perspectives
Abstract Commercial yerba mate products can show a high ‘diversification
degree’ depending on harvesting/cultivation methods, processing systems, packaging choices, and the existence of national or transnational supply chains in South
America and worldwide. In this ambit, the concept of authenticity is a basic pillar,
and the same thing can be affirmed when speaking of traceability and ‘economic
motivated adulteration’ issues. With reference to yerba mate, adulteration episodes
and related researches do not show worrying trends in the last decade. However, a
deep analysis of selected scientific references and official Notifications in the European Union can highlight these possible actions: undeclared and fraudulent addition
of carbohydrates; fraudulent identification of origin concerning yerba mate products;
unmentioned addition and mixing of yerba mate with other Ilex species; fraudulent
labelling in terms of mandatory and facultative information to the consumer. This
chapter explores briefly possible food frauds in the yerba mate sector, with some
possible countermeasure.
Keywords Addition · Authenticity · Economic motivated adulteration · Global
commerce · Mixing · Origin · Yerba mate
Abbreviations
ATR-FTIR Attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy
DOU
Diário Oficial da União
EMA
Economic motivated adulteration
EFSA
European Food Safety Authority
EU
European Union
FNCF
Federazione Nazionale dei Chimici e dei Fisici
FBO
Food business operator
HCA
Hierarchical cluster analysis
ICP-MS
Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry
ICP-OES
Inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry
INYM
Instituto Nacional de la Yerba Mate
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
C. Iommi, Chemistry and Safety of South American Yerba Mate Teas,
Chemistry of Foods, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-69614-6_8
73
Yerba Mate, the Global Commerce,
and Possible Adulteration. The Current
Situation and New Perspectives
Abstract Commercial yerba mate products can show a high ‘diversification
degree’ depending on harvesting/cultivation methods, processing systems, packaging choices, and the existence of national or transnational supply chains in South
America and worldwide. In this ambit, the concept of authenticity is a basic pillar,
and the same thing can be affirmed when speaking of traceability and ‘economic
motivated adulteration’ issues. With reference to yerba mate, adulteration episodes
and related researches do not show worrying trends in the last decade. However, a
deep analysis of selected scientific references and official Notifications in the European Union can highlight these possible actions: undeclared and fraudulent addition
of carbohydrates; fraudulent identification of origin concerning yerba mate products;
unmentioned addition and mixing of yerba mate with other Ilex species; fraudulent
labelling in terms of mandatory and facultative information to the consumer. This
chapter explores briefly possible food frauds in the yerba mate sector, with some
possible countermeasure.
Keywords Addition · Authenticity · Economic motivated adulteration · Global
commerce · Mixing · Origin · Yerba mate
Abbreviations
ATR-FTIR Attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy
DOU
Diário Oficial da União
EMA
Economic motivated adulteration
EFSA
European Food Safety Authority
EU
European Union
FNCF
Federazione Nazionale dei Chimici e dei Fisici
FBO
Food business operator
HCA
Hierarchical cluster analysis
ICP-MS
Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry
ICP-OES
Inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry
INYM
Instituto Nacional de la Yerba Mate
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
C. Iommi, Chemistry and Safety of South American Yerba Mate Teas,
Chemistry of Foods, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-69614-6_8
73