 Maintaining confidence and trust in the food supply is a high priority for both food producers and consumers. Producers depend on their reputations to obtain market access and premium prices. Consumers want to be sure the food they buy is safe and the quality guaranteed. However, price differences between high and lower quality foods attract fraudsters who may add cheaper ingredients or substitute a premium brand with a cheaper alternative. Each year, this food fraud is estimated at more than $50 billion. Customers are cheated, reputable producers lose sales, their reputations and access to markets and dishonest traders are rewarded unfairly. In addition, a counterfeit or adulterated food does not have the same safety guarantees as the genuine product. How can we ensure the authenticity and safety of food and reduce risks to consumer health? The industry has developed certification processes using labels and documents to counter this fraud. Yet even though it helps to maintain traceable records, unless you have laboratory tests to verify the information, the industry remains vulnerable to dishonest traders. Isotopes can help to provide this missing verification. In nature, each chemical element has its own identity. Atoms of the same substance can vary in weight because they have different numbers of neutrons. These atoms are known as isotopes. The ratios of these isotopes vary according to where, how and under what environmental conditions of food was produced. Though subtle, this small difference can be used as a detection test. The isotope ratios provide a hidden natural signature within the food itself, an inherent record that can provide information on whether or not the food in the package has been adulterated or has come from the place claimed on the label. Scientists are now developing and validating analytical methods to read those inherent records, which will enable national regulatory authorities and manufacturers to verify their traceability systems. With this new isotopic method, customers can feel confident about the authenticity of the food they buy.