Machine learning-guided REIMS pattern recognition of non-dairy cream, milk fat cream and whipping cream for fraudulence identification

•A REIMS method was developed for determination of whipping creams.•Lipid differences in non-dairy cream and milk fat cream were deciphered by OPLS-DA.•Rapid detection of minute non-dairy cream fraud in milk fat cream was achieved.•Machine learning-guided REIMS pattern recognition improved accuracy and reduced detection time. The illegal adulteration of non-dairy cream in milk fat cream during the manufacturing process of baked goods has significantly hindered the robust growth of the dairy industry. In this study, a method based on rapid evaporative ionization mass spectrometry (REIMS) lipidomics pattern recognition integrated with machine learning algorithms was established. A total of 26 ions with importance were picked using multivariate statistical analysis as salient contributing features to distinguish between milk fat cream and non-dairy cream. Furthermore, employing discriminant analysis, decision trees, support vector machines, and neural network classifiers, machine learning models were utilized to classify non-dairy cream, milk fat cream, and minute quantities of non-dairy cream adulterated in milk fat cream. These approaches were enhanced through hyperparameter optimization and feature engineering, yielding accuracy rates at 98.4–99.6%. This artificial intelligent method of machine learning-guided REIMS pattern recognition can accurately identify adulteration of whipped cream and might help combat food fraud.