The word authentic is used to describe an object that is not false or copied, it is genuine and real. Authentic food is food (or drink) that exactly meets its description and also meets a person’s reasonable assumption of its character.
Authentic food is food (or drink) that is what it claims to be
Imagine some meat on a plate. It looks like a beef burger/patty with a moist look and no strong odor. It would be reasonable for a person to assume that it is red meat and that it is fresh and would be safe to cook and eat. But is the meat authentic? Well that depends on what is being claimed about the meat and the accuracy of those claims…
Example 1 Red Meat
- Red meat? Yes
- Fresh (not frozen)? Yes
- Authentic? Yes
Example 2 Beef Burgers
- Red meat? Yes
- Fresh (not frozen)? Yes
- Contains beef? Maybe
- Authentic? Maybe
Example 3 Grass-fed Beef Burgers
- Red meat? Yes
- Fresh (not frozen)? Yes
- Contains beef? Maybe
- Beef is from grass-fed cows? Maybe
- Authentic? Maybe
There are explicit written claims being made about the food in example 3; it is beef, it comes from cows that have been fed on grass. Is this true? How can we tell? For this meat to be authentic it would need to be meat from a cow and it would need to have been fed with grass for a proportion of its life equal to that which a reasonable person would assume is meant by the term grass-fed.
In some jurisdictions there are legal definitions for the term grass-fed, so the relevant standards would also have to be met for the meat to be considered authentic where those rules apply.
Authenticity is a key requirement of all transactions: we all expect to receive the food or drink that we intended to purchase. Supplying food that is inauthentic, such as olive oil that has been blended with cheaper vegetable oil, oregano that has been mixed with other leaves or ‘organic’ products that were in fact conventionally grown is fraud. And it is a crime. Ten percent of all food businesses are victims of this type of crime each year. Is you business at risk?
We can help protect your brand.