Direct Sourcing

Answer ‘yes’ in the Vulnerability Assessment Helper if this raw material or ingredient is purchased by your company directly from the manufacturer or grower.  Answer ‘no’ if it is purchased from a distributor or importer, wholesaler or retailer.

Form of Ingredient

Answer ‘yes’ in the Vulnerability Assessment Helper if this raw material or ingredient is purchased by your company in individual pieces which can be visually identified as such.  Examples include chickpeas, whole peppers, chicken wings, bananas, frozen berries, rolled oats, coffee beans, whole cloves.  If this ingredient is purchased as a powder, liquid, mince, paste, pre-mix, slurry or blend then answer ‘no’.

Purchasing Specification

Answer ‘yes’ in the Vulnerability Assessment Helper if there is a formal specification for the raw material or ingredient.  This should be separate from any supplier invoice, certificate of analysis or purchasing contract.  Although it is common to base a purchasing specification on information provided by a supplier, a proper purchasing specification should be created ‘in-house’ and should work as a stand-alone description of the raw material or ingredient that could be used when purchasing it from any source.  Click here to read more about purchasing specifications.

Inspection and testing

Inspection means: does a designated person formally receive the shipment of this raw material or ingredient into your facility by

1. checking that it is in good condition, undamaged and complete,
2. checking that it is accompanied by proper paperwork, such as a certificate of analysis and
3. does that person record the details of the incoming material including the batch number and
4. is there a documented process for what to do if the shipment does not meet expectations?

Testing means: does a designated person take a sample of the shipment when it is received and perform physical, chemical and/or sensory tests to check that it meets criteria defined in the raw material specification?  If you do not have a raw material specification answer ‘no’ for testing.

Trading properties

Raw materials traded on specific properties are those for which the price paid for this raw material is based upon the content of water, dairy fat, nitrogen (protein), cocoa solids or some other key component. Answer ‘yes’ here if

• the price your business pays is dependent on a specific property of this raw material or
• if any of your suppliers’ suppliers price this material according to a specific property, even if your business pays a flat rate.

If you are unsure, speak to your purchasing officer.

Special criteria

Answer ‘yes’ here if there are special criteria for this raw material or ingredient such as halal, organic,non-GMO, grass-fed, free-range or if there is a specific country of origin or grade of produce required for this material.

Micro Ingredient

Answer ‘yes’ here if this ingredient is used in very small quantities and/or is present in the finished product at very small quantities.  If the limit of 1% is not useful for your product type, then choose more appropriate limit and amend the column heading.

The answer you provide for “Micro Ingredient” does not affect the calculated likelihood of adulteration or substitution for an individual ingredient or raw material; any ingredient can be vulnerable, no matter how small the amount used in a food product.  The answer to the Micro Ingredient question is used when combining the results from all ingredients to calculate the overall vulnerability of the finished product.

Compositional Standards

Examples of products with compositional standards in some jurisdictions: ice cream (requirements for milk fat content) and chocolate (requirements for cocoa butter content).

Country of Origin

Country of origin is included in the Vulnerability Assessment Helper because problems with origin can affect regulatory compliance and consumer trust as well as damaging your brand.  Examples of country of origin claims:  Made in USA, Italian Tomatoes, Brewed in Germany.

Regional provenance

Examples of regional and/or provenance claims: Made from Tasmanian apples, Pure spring water bottled in the Rocky Mountains, Topped with Sicilian olives.

Allergen-related claims

Examples: Nut Free, Low in lactose, Contains no soy, No sulphates, Made from corn not wheat, Dairy-free.

Different jurisdictions have different requirements for allergen claims and allergen warnings as well as different declared allergen lists. Include anything that is relevant to your product group and legal jurisdictions.  Allergen claims that should be included here are claims that the product is friendly to allergenic or intolerant consumers such as being low-in or free-from various allergens.  Do not include warnings such as May contain traces of nuts or manufactured in a facility that also processes soy; these warnings reduce the risk to allergenic consumers, whereas the intention is to capture claims that increase the risk.  Visit the Allergen Bureau for more information about allergens.

Special status

The special status question should capture any markeing or labelling claim about your product or product group that has not been captured in the earlier questions.  Answer ‘yes’ here if any products in the group are marketed with any special status such as being kosher, halal, non-GMO, organic, sustainably fished, grass-fed or free-range.  The type of claim, the definition and the certifications of such are not important to this process, but any problems in your supply chain that affect the accuracy of these claims can impact on regulatory compliance and consumer trust as well as damaging your brand.

The Vulnerability Assessment Helper includes an allergen warning because any product that claims to be safe for people with food allergies is particularly vulnerable if an incident of adulteration or substitution occurs in its raw materials or ingredients.  An allergenic adulterant, such as a peanut flour can have deadly consequences for consumers with allergies.  Read more about peanut contamination of cumin here.

The Vulnerability Assessment Helper can help you to understand out how severely a product or product group would be affected by economically motivated adulteration, substitution or dilution of the raw materials or ingredients used to make your product.  No matter what answer the Helper calculates, you, with advice from other experts within the business should carefully consider the impact/s, including those listed below, and make your own choice.  Add your own choice to the column labelled ‘User rating’.  The results table and matrix on the Results (printable) page is calculated using the ‘User rating’; if one has been entered it will override the calculated result.

Possible impacts:

Food safety risks: Any adulteration, substitution or dilution of an ingredient should be treated as a serious food safety issue as a first priority.   There can be direct food safety risks to consumers from contaminated adulterants, allergenic adulterants or unhygienic handling of the ingredient during any adulteration or substitution.  There can also be an indirect food safety risk to consumers from adulterants that cause chronic disease, or are carcinogenic or are lacking in nutrients that would be present in an unadulterated product.

Loss of consumer trust: Any problem with your product or product group can be catastrophic for your brand.

Indirect risks: Adulteration, substitution or dilution of an ingredient indicates a flaw in the traceability of your product, which means non-compliance with the requirements of food safety standards and regulations.

There are financial risks associated with any incidence of food fraud.  If your company has a Risk Officer or an Enterprise Risk Management Plan the relevant persons should be informed of the results of your vulnerability assessment and consulted about how to prioritise the prevention and mitigation planning that comes after each vulnerability assessment.