Abstract

The estimation of the nutritional parameters of food products is a difficult and laborious process. Many companies spend considerable financial and other resources to frequently check the nutritional facts of their products. In addition, current methods are unsuitable for day-to-day, restaurant or home use. A new device, that would automatically estimate the nutritional facts of any edible product, could prove very useful in all of the above situations. To achieve that goal, Raman Spectroscopy was used to examine a wide variety of commonly available food products. There was minimal sample preparation, mainly homogenization and dilution. Raman spectra were collected with 785 nm excitation and 4.5 cm⁻¹ resolution. The spectra were analyzed and solutions to linear differential equations resulted in estimates of nutritional facts. When the analysis techniques were optimized, several nutritional parameters could be estimated, such as calories, fat, protein, carbohydrates, sugars, and fiber, with an error between 2.9 % and 6.7 %. The results imply that Raman spectroscopy can be used for the estimation of the nutritional facts of food products with an error less than what is required for labeling. A device based on this technique could prove to be a very useful tool for dieticians, hospitals, food companies, health care organizations, restaurants and even home users, who want to be informed about the content of the food that they consume.

© 2009 OSA/SPIE