Food Fraud Advisors

You are here: Home / Archives for Food Fraud

by

Food Fraud News – May 2017

European food supply at risk from climate change affects on other continents

A study that examined European water demand found the EU to be likely to be affected by droughts in other countries because of its reliance on certain food crops that do not grow in Europe.  They predicted that droughts in growing areas for almonds, pistachios, grapes, rice, soybeans and sugar cane would have serious impact on European supplies and prices.  Droughts are expected to occur more frequently with climate change.  The largest impact is expected to be on the European meat and dairy sector due to its reliance on soy for animal feed.  Increasing prices and factors that affect supply can increase the risk of food fraud, with food and feed that is imported from drought affected countries likely to become more vulnerable.

Condiments and sauces; counterfeiting operations, products uncovered more frequently

Another counterfeit condiment operation has been uncovered in Asia in recent months.  This follows an earlier discovery, in January this year of a sophisticated factory complex in China that was manufacturing a range of sauces and noodles and packing them with counterfeit branding for Maggi, Knorr and Nestle.  Fifty small factories were hidden in a residential area, and managed to produce goods worth $14.5 million per year, according to one estimate.  In Europe, counterfeit seasoning cubes were seized during a recent enforcement operation.  And there have been two recent incidences of salt fraud; one in Nigeria and one in Scotland.  Is condiment counterfeiting growing or are we just getting better at finding it?  Only time will tell.  What we do know for certain is that it is not only premium, luxury goods that are at risk of being copied.

Salt production, Mauritius

Coffee price volatility set to increase

Larger than usual volatility in coffee pricing is predicted for the coming year as weather events and an unusually large predicted crop of arabica in Brazil are expected to impact world markets.  In addition, the Honduran coffee harvest is at risk from a leaf mould disease.  The previous outbreak in that country had a lasting impact on the harvest.  Coffee is already at high risk of food fraud and increasing volatility in the markets in the short term is likely to increase the risk.  Long term predictions for coffee supply are already grim because of climate change’s effects on growing conditions.  Heavy disease burdens in key growing areas will exacerbate the problem and ultimately increase the supply problems worldwide, increasing coffee’s vulnerability to food fraud.

Coffee,authentic,fraud,horizon scanning
Increased volatility in coffee markets is predicted for the coming year

Vertical integration in the food supply chain in Italy

An Italian consumer group has warned that at least 5000 restaurants in Italy are run by the mafia.   The mafia in Italy are also said to be involved in food fraud within primary production, manufacturing and wholesaling sectors.  Any restaurant that is run by an organisation that has links to organisations that are perpetrating food fraud provides the perfect sales outlet for the fraud-affected food.  The foods are, in effect, exchanged for ‘clean’ currency from restaurant patrons, essentially laundering money derived from food fraud operations.  It has been reported that some of the mafia-run growing operations are being done on polluted land that is not safe for food production.

Get more news

Learn about the food fraud risks for hundreds of different products in our Food Fraud Risk Information Database, hosted by Trello.  It’s new, it’s free, check it out today.

food fraud risk database

 

 

 

by

What’s the go with garlic?

Whole fresh garlic is at low risk of fraudulent adulteration, however, as with other produce, there is a medium to high likelihood of its origin or organic status being misrepresented in markets where consumers pay a premium based on those characteristics. For fresh bulb garlic, claims about chemical treatments, such as bleaching, are also at risk of being fraudulent.

For powdered and flaked garlic, the risk profile is different.  Dried and powdered garlic are at higher risk of adulteration than whole bulbs. All types of dried, flaked and powdered garlic are at risk of undeclared preservatives or additives, undeclared fillers (diluents), such as chalk or flour, misrepresentation of organic status or origin and smuggling.  In early 2017, some food companies in USA and Australia found garlic powder that was sourced from China to be contaminated with peanut.

In October of 2016, it was reported that speculators were purchasing huge quantities of garlic in China, the world’s largest garlic exporter, after prices almost doubled in the previous year. This has led to supply issues and very high prices. Dried garlic is affected even worse than fresh bulbs.

In April 2017, CBC News (Canada) reported that garlic trading trends have food fraud expert Professor Chris Elliott mystified, because sales are at normal levels despite much of China’s recent garlic crop being devastated by a cold snap.  This might be because the speculators who were hording garlic in the previous year have been releasing it on to the market this year.

Want information just like this for hundreds of other food types?  Check out our Food Fraud Risk Information database.

Is garlic at risk of food fraud?

by

Food Fraud Risk Database

It’s huge, it’s completely free and open-access; no log-in required.  It’s our

Food Fraud Risk Information Database

Compiled by food fraud experts and containing information about hundreds of different food types, including past incidences of food fraud and emerging threats, you can use it to meet the requirements of your food safety management system, for

  • food fraud vulnerability assessments,
  • food safety risk assessments
  • hazards from intentional adulteration requiring preventive controls (FSMA)
  • pre-filtering and
  • horizon scanning for emerging threats

You can choose to ‘watch’ the database to receive notifications every time new information is added.  You can also watch individual food types (say “Beef”) to receive updates for just that food type.

Access is free, although if you want to receive notifications you will need to create a (free) Trello account.  We do not receive income from Trello for new sign-ups.

Check it out today

food fraud risk database
Food Fraud Risk Information database, created by Food Fraud Advisors, hosted by Trello.com

 

by

Coming to a store near you….

Keeping abreast of food fraud and food safety news is a daily activity and one of my favourite work tasks.  This week, as I skimmed through food industry trivia and pondered the launch of chocolate cheese (seriously), the two most alarming and unusual food fraud incidents I came across were news of thirty five businesses who were caught by Chinese authorities adding opium to food and a British business that was prosecuted for selling ‘almond’ powder that contained peanut.  By the way,  you did see that correctly: opium.  And just for the record, opium is not a permitted food additive.  Peanut-contamination of anything is, of course, a very serious risk to the safety of allergic consumers and has resulted in deaths in recent years.  It’s tragic to see that this type of adulteration continues to occur.

Having digested thousands of words of information about prosecutions, investigations, trends in food fashions and the changing regulatory landscape, I began to notice some patterns and found a couple of big red flags for future risks of food fraud.

Halal

Halal certifications are increasingly needed for market access for almost every food type at both the retail and wholesale level.  A halal product is often indistinguishable from its non-halal counterpart which means that everyday consumers are not able to verify food sellers’ claims about halal status.  Falsely claiming halal for a food item is an easy fraud to perpetrate, especially during the retail sale of un-packaged food in restaurants and takeaway stores.  Halal fraud can be as sophisticated as forgery of certification documents accompanying bulk shipments of food or as simple as dishonest signage in a takeaway store.  There have been a number of incidences of halal fraud in the news lately and these are almost certainly the tip of the iceberg.  I see very high risks in the South East Asian countries of Indonesia and Malaysia; these being some of the world’s biggest markets for halal food and having variable and sometimes chaotic food supply chains accompanied by uneven regulatory enforcement.  However, halal forgery can happen even in the most sophisticated markets with a recent prosecution in the United Kingdom in which the fraudster is alleged to have netted a quarter of a million pounds.  With this kind of money up for grabs, you can expect halal fraud to continue.

Is this meat halal?

Probiotics

Probiotics are among the hottest food ingredients for the healthy eating market right now.  New technology is claimed to enable probiotic bacteria – good bacteria – to survive in an ever-increasing range of food types, taking them beyond traditional yoghurts and ‘Yukult’ style dairy drinks.  Probiotic foods command a premium price and, as with many of the most vulnerable food fraud targets, the probiotic components are indiscernible to consumers.  There is a real and growing risk that fraudulent claims will be made about the quantity and types of live bacteria in food products, with the possibility of both accidental and deliberate frauds.  Any food business can make a mistake with formulations and shelf life, leading to discrepancies between the quantity of live bacteria in the food and what is claimed on the pack.  Premium brand owners are less likely to risk their reputation with unsubstantiated claims and these businesses are more likely to have the in-house expertise and resources to properly verify their on-pack claims.  It’s the smaller food companies and newer brands that I worry about:  they are much more likely to find themselves inadvertently or knowingly selling ‘probiotic’ products that don’t live up to the marketing hype.

Cold Brew Coffee

Can you fake cold brew coffee?  Cold brewed coffee appears to be here to stay but it has a high price tag and would be easy to fake.  Could the average consumer taste the difference between conventional and cold-brew coffee?  I’m pretty sure that I couldn’t, especially when served icy cold or with lots of milk.  The production method for cold brewed coffee is slower than conventional brewing, which usually means more costly.  And that means food businesses could be tempted to cut a few corners.  Even hipster brands that build their messages around product authenticity can find themselves in a scandal when financial pressures increase, as was the case with an ultra-premium bean-to-bar chocolate brand recently.  I wouldn’t be surprised to see a few incidences of fraudulent claims about cold-brewed coffee hitting the headlines this year.

Cold brew coffee: hot food fraud risk

by

Food Fraud; news of emerging issues

The macadamia nut tree out the back of my place is flowering and is covered with long, yellow flower spikes.  In a few months it will be covered in nuts.  However, in world markets right now there is a shortage of whole macadamia nut kernels.  While stocks remain scarce, macadamia products are at increased risk of fraudulent activity.  Whole kernels are less likely than other macadamia products to be affected by fraudulent adulteration, however they are still at risk of fraudulent misrepresentation of country of origin, packing date and organic status.  Nut pieces, meals and flours are at risk of fraudulent adulteration with cheaper fillers and substitutes.

Here are some other interesting issues in food fraud or potential food fraud from the last month:

Are breadfruit products an emerging fraud risk?  Breadfruit is a starchy tropical fruit that grows on large trees in the Pacific Islands and the Caribbean. Breadfruit flour is said to have huge potential as a gluten-free product and breadfruit could become the next ‘superfood’, but right now demand outstrips supply and new trees take 3 to 5 years to bear fruit.  If the marketing gurus succeed in making breadfruit the next big thing, it will attract a premium price in North America and Europe and gluten-free breadfruit flour could become an attractive target for fraud.  I will be watching this product closely to see how the situation develops.

breadfruit
Is breadfruit destined to be the next ‘superfood’?

Hairy crabs, a delicacy in parts of China, are in season now, with crabs from particular lakes being very highly prized and even more expensive than their counterparts from other lakes.  A crab-marketing group representing hunters from Yangcheng lake designed an anti-counterfeiting system based on bar-code technology for Yangcheng crabs.  Unfortunately, they discovered that sellers of crabs from other lakes were forging the anti-fraud bar-codes.   I predict this type of fraud to increase over the next few years as consumers come to expect and trust anti-counterfeit measures applied to expensive consumer items.

For more on these topics plus expert analysis of the food fraud risk profiles of hundreds of other food materials check out our food fraud risk information database.