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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.

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Food Fraud Alerts – top issues this month

Highlights from this month’s Food Fraud Report

Cheese buyback

In the USA, the Department of Agriculture (USDA) is buying $20m worth of cheese in an attempt to improve prices.  The cheese will be given to food banks and pantries. read more

Cheese wheels on the shelves in diary production factory

Champagne doom

Champagne makers have warned of a looming shortage due to bad weather during the growing season, the worst in 60 years.  read more

Dairy prices turn a corner

Falling production and growing demand is said to be responsible for a  sudden sharp upturn (12.7%) in global dairy prices.  read more

Lead found in turmeric

Routine sampling by New York State (USA) food inspectors found high levels of lead in retail turmeric, leading to a recall of multiple brands in the USA.  read more

Spices and herbs in metal bowls and wooden spoons. Food and cuisine ingredients
Spices have long been susceptible to fraudulent adulteration

 

Allergenic adulteration of cumin

There has been a recall of cumin due to the presence of undeclared peanuts.  read more

Wheat markets in flux

Global wheat production volumes have smashed records for the fifth year in a row.  read more

 

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Vulnerability assessment methods

There are two general approaches to performing a vulnerability assessment for food fraud.

But first…. for the purposes of this page, a vulnerability assessment is a risk-assessment-style evaluation of a food product or ingredient’s vulnerability to food fraud.  For information about food defense vulnerability assessments (intentional adulteration vulnerabilities), click here.

The two approaches are (1) a conventional risk assessment model or (2) based on the recommendations of the British Retail Consortium (BRC) in their guidance document Understanding Vulnerability Assessment (2015)

Food fraud vulnerability assessmentFood fraud vulnerability assessment BRC

The conventional method is a combination of the likelihood of something occurring versus consequences if that thing occurs.  This method is recommended for all types of food businesses.  It allows businesses to identify their most vulnerable ingredients, products and brands and provides an excellent framework to prioritise mitigation strategies.

The second method is recommended for businesses wishing to meet the requirements of British Retail Consortium (BRC) Food Safety Standard Issue 7 and Issue 8 (clause 5.4.2).  The BRC method does not address the risks from all types of food fraud; it only addresses the risk from adulteration and substitution of raw materials and ingredients.  Therefore it is not recommended for businesses that need to meet the requirements of other GFSI food safety standards such as FSSC 22000 Version 4 (clause 2.1.4.6) or SQF Edition 8.  What are these acronymns?

For more information about how to conduct a vulnerability assessment, take a look at Vulnerability Assessments; What? Why? How?

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Food Fraud Survey

Have you ever been a victim of food fraud, either as a consumer or while working in the food industry?  It’s likely that at some point you have paid too much for a ‘premium’ product that was not exactly what it should have been.  Foods such as olive oil, organic products, fish and specialty beef products are commonly misrepresented to purchasers.  Take the food fraud survey to find out it you have been affected.

Take the survey