Use the information on this page when performing an assessment with Food Fraud Advisors’ Vulnerability Assessment Tools:

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.

Geographic origins

Answer ‘yes’ for this question if this raw material or ingredient originates in a country that is politically unstable or very poor.  The Global Food Security Index has specific information about food quality and food safety issues in 113 countries, including some of the most vulnerable.

Direct sourcing

Answer ‘yes’ in the Vulnerability Assessment Tool if this raw material or ingredient is purchased by your company directly from the business that manufactures it, grows it or slaughters it.  For fish and seafood, answer ‘yes’ if you purchase from the business that is the first on-shore processing facility.  Answer ‘no’ if the material is purchased from a distributor or importer, trader, broker, wholesaler or retailer.

Complexity of supply chain

Do you consider the supply chain of this material to be complex and/or long?  An example of a short supply chain is wheat flour purchased directly from a flour mill that processes locally grown wheat.  A complex supply chain is one that involves many different businesses handling, processing, storing and transporting a product and its component parts.   Most imported materials have a long and complex supply chain.

Ease of access to material

Is the supply chain of a type that allows multiple points of entry for fraudulent material?  Entry points for fraudulent materials are points in the supply chain at which a motivated person could adulterate or dilute the material or substitute an inauthentic material in its place.  These points are most likely to be places where the material is blended, mixed, ground or where it is stored or transported in a manner that would allow a motivated person to easily gain access to the material.

Price

If the purchase price is more than USD20 per kg or USD20,000 per metric tonne or EUR18 per kg or 18,000 per metric tonne answer ‘yes very expensive’

If the purchase price is less than EUR600 or USD650 per metric tonne, answer ‘no’.

Size of market

Does the international market for this material have a large monetary value?  Materials that have markets with large monetary values are those that are traded in very large quantities across many countries or materials that are very expensive.  Tea, coffee, cocoa, sugar all have markets with a large monetary value.

Form of Ingredient

Answer ‘yes’ in the Vulnerability Assessment Tool 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’.

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.

Availability of adulterants or substitutes

An example of a material that has easily available adulterants is honey, which can be adulterated with water, sugar syrups, invert syrups, all of which are easy to obtain.

Score

Some versions of the Vulnerability Assessment Tool include a score for likelihood.  The score is included for interest only.  It is a numerical score out of 100 with a lower score equating being more desirable.  The default score is 100 and remains 100 until every question has been answered.  This is to ensure that an incomplete assessment returns a high risk rating.

Use the information on this page when performing an assessment with Food Fraud Advisors’ Vulnerability Assessment Tools:

Supply chain audits

Answer ‘yes all suppliers are audited’ in the Vulnerability Assessment Tool if you know that all the suppliers from whom you purchase this material and their suppliers are audited by your business or by third parties.  Suppliers that have been successfully audited by third parties will have current certificates of conformance to food safety standards; for example they will be ‘BRC certified’ or ‘SQF certified’.

Routine Testing

A routine authenticity test is a test carried out on a regular, defined basis by your business, a trusted supplier or a third party to determine whether the material is ‘authentic’.  An authentic food or food ingredient is one that is what it is claimed to be.  That is, if the material is claimed to be olive oil, an authenticity test would confirm that the oil has been made from olives; if the material is claimed to be Spanish olive oil, authenticity testing would check that the chemical profile of the oil matches those of Spanish olives; if the material is claimed to be virgin Spanish olive oil, the testing would check for the origin, the species and whether the oil is virgin.  If testing has occurred but it is occasional, ad-hoc or one-off then it is not considered routine and you should answer ‘no’ at this question.

Frequency of testing

Is the authenticity testing of an appropriate frequency?  If routine authenticity testing does not occur, answer ‘not applicable’.  If routine testing does occur, it is difficult to know whether the frequency is appropriate, even if fraudulent material has previously been detected during routine testing.  Materials that are very susceptible to food fraud – that is the likelihood of occurrence is ‘very likely’ or ‘likely’ – should have a very high testing frequency; testing per batch of incoming goods is best practice.  An appropriate frequency of testing for a less vulnerable material could be based on testing one in five incoming batches.

Relevant audits

Is the supplier of this material subject to relevant audits?  Relevant audits are those which consider adulteration, traceability, mass balance, supplier approvals and authenticity testing.  Audits to GFSI food safety standards are ‘relevant’.  Most other food safety management standards adequately address traceability requirements, and some also consider adulteration and mass balance.  You will need to check the applicable standards or audit reports to determine if the supplier audits are considered ‘relevant’ according to this question.

Special criteria

If there are special criteria are they tested for and/or properly certified?  Special criteria include organic status, halal, vegetarian, gluten-free, non-GMO and origin claims such as ‘Spanish olives’.  If there are no special criteria for this material answer ‘not applicable’.  Otherwise, answer according to whether or not those criteria are verified with testing and/or certifications.

Score

The score is included for interest only.  It is a numerical score out of 100 with a lower score being desirable.  The default score is 100 and remains 100 until all questions have been answered.  This is to ensure that an incomplete assessment produces a high vulnerability rating.

Got compatibility issues?

We’ve got you covered: the Vulnerability Assessment Tool (BRC Method) is compatible with Microsoft Excel versions 2004 onwards (file extension .xlsx) and Microsoft Excel for Mac, from 2011 and onwards.  There are no macros in the spreadsheet.

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