Food authenticity / adulteration and fraud. Part 1

Tamara Coory and Steve Flint (Massey University)

This is the first in a series of two articles looking at the problem of food authenticity, adulteration and fraud. The second article will look at methods to ensure authenticity and prevent food fraud.

Abstract

Reported food fraud cases are increasing, costing legitimate businesses money and potentially harming consumers. Currently there is no worldwide agreed definition for food fraud terms, leading to challenges in legislation. Recent examples of food fraud are fraudulent olive oil, horse meat and alcohol. Fraudsters are also taking advantage of ongoing global issues such as COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine. The Global Food Safety Initiative implemented vulnerability assessment critical control point (VACCP) in 2018, raising fthe food industry's awareness of food fraud. Quick response (QR) codes on packaging can be used by consumers to confirm the authenticity of products. Analytical detection technologies are also available. However, they are costly, and often require a well-equipped laboratory. As technology advances, smaller hand-held devices which can be taken into the field are being developed. These, together with stringent food fraud legislation, will help in the fight against food fraud.

Introduction

Food fraud is thought to cost the food industry globally around €30 billion annually (FAO, 2021). Opportunities for food fraud are created by the globalised food supply chain which at present often has insufficient traceability, creating blind spots where fraud can occur (FAO, 2021).

Another opportunity for food fraud is food E-commerce, which is seeing significant growth (FAO, 2021). These foods are more vulnerable as consumers cannot see the product or the people selling the goods prior to purchasing (FAO, 2021).

Current global challenges, such as COVID-19 are creating an ‘ideal climate’ for food fraud, proven by the large increase seen in the last quarter of 2020 (Sanderson, 2021). The increase can be seen in Figures 1 and 2.

Concerningly it is thought that due to the lack of control and standardised prevention measures, internationally around 10% of food products may be subject to fraud (Brooks et al., 2021).

Due to the complexity and globalisation of food fraud, combatting food fraud will require a team effort, both globally, between governments, and up and down the supply chain (Smith et al., 2021). The need for a team effort and further investment into genetic authenticity and other food fraud tools is emphasised by the fact that industries are seeing repeat fraud in foods known to be vulnerable, therefore corrective actions and deterrents put in place are not sufficient (Smith et al., 2021).Food fraud threats can be both internal and external of companies

(SSAFE, 2015). Because control over food fraud decreases the longer the supply chain, ideally supply chains should be kept as short as possible. However, often ingredients must be sourced globally.

Food fraud can be attractive to criminals as they may see that the potential profit to be made greatly outweighs the risk of being caught, as penalties for food fraud are often less than other criminal activities (Smith et al., 2021).

This paper will cover definitions of food fraud, authenticity and adulteration, cover examples of recent food fraud issues and review methods which can be used to prevent food fraud occurring as well as methods to ensure authenticity.

Inadequate definitions

Definition of food fraud, food authenticity and food adulteration Smith et al. (2021) states that globally the food marketplace is evolving, and that regulations and standards internationally are evolving simultaneously. Also raised is that terms and definitions relating to food fraud are often conflicting and confusing, such as those for food fraud and authenticity (Smith et al., 2021).

Collaboration is in progress to standardise terminology, including International Food Authenticity Assurance Organisation and Codex along with research institutions in the EU (Smith et al., 2021).

Figure 3 shows a hierarchy of definitions, covered in more detail below.

a. Food fraud As mentioned, there are various definitions, one example being “food fraud is a collective term used to encompass the deliberate and intentional substitution, addition, tampering or misrepresentation of food, food ingredients, or food packaging; or false or misleading statements made about a product, for economic gain” (Yang et al., 2022). Another definition, provided by GFSI “a collective term encompassing the deliberate or intentional substitution, addition or misrepresentation of food, food ingredients or food packaging, labelling, product information or false or misleading statements made about a product for economic gain that could impact a customer’s health” (Regethermic, 2020).

b. Food authenticity Food authenticity can be defined as a “match between the food product characteristics and the corresponding food product claims” (Robson et al., 2021). In basic terms food is authentic when it is what it says it is (Robson et al., 2021). There is also a longer definition found in the Elliot Review: “food authenticity is about ensuring that food offered for sale or sold is of nature, substance, and quality expected by the purchaser” (Robson et al., 2021). Food authenticity activities are both intentional and unintentional (Robson et al., 2021).

Figure 1. Increasing cases of food fraud (Sanderson, 2021)

Figure 2. 2019-2020 International food fraud incidents (Brooks et al., 2021)

Figure 3. Definitions hierarchy (Robson et al., 2021).

c. Food adulteration Adulteration can be both unintentional and intentional. The intentional adulterants are related to food fraud as these are added for economic gain (Thakur et al., 2020). Intentional adulteration can be defined as “fraudulent, intentional substitution or addition of a substance in a product for the purpose of increasing the apparent value of the product or reducing the cost of production” (Spink, 2019).

Recent issues

In today’s global market incidents of food fraud are a common occurrence. Certain commodities are at higher risk than others to be affected by fraud. Recent food fraud issues can be found on the free database “Food Fraud Advisors’ Food Fraud Risk Information Database.”

Of concern are the repeated food fraud offences in products known to be at high risk to fraud such as olive oil, horsemeat and alcohol. As analytical technologies become more affordable, increased testing may deter fraudsters.

Table 1. Comparison of food fraud incidents Jan-Jun 2019-2020 (Frera et al., 2021).

a. Ukraine: The war in Ukraine raises food fraud concerns. This was highlighted when at a Codex meeting, Ukraine raised issues occurring (Whitworth, 2022). Officials from Ukraine stated that food fraud was being committed by Russia as they were taking and repacking agricultural products and keeping the profits (Whitworth, 2022).

Other countries also raised food security and safety concerns (Whitworth, 2022). The ability for official controls to be maintained is being challenged in some areas due to the war (Whitworth, 2022).

80% of the global supply of sunflower oil is exported by Ukraine and Russia (Johnson, 2022). With the ongoing crisis in the Ukraine and the lack of fertiliser, the sunflower oil shortage is likely to worsen (Morrison, 2022). This will push up the price of sunflower oil, making it attractive to fraudsters.

Sunflower oil is not the only concern. Wheat, corn, pulses, honey, fish, and fertiliser are also likely to be targeted by fraudsters (Johnson, 2022).

b. Olive oil: Another recent and ongoing issue is mislabelled olive oil. Olive oil is one of the most frequently targeted products by fraudsters.

Italian authorities carried out an investigation looking at 183 olive oil importers (DeAndreis, 2022). Of the samples tested, 27% were found not to meet extra virgin olive oil standards (DeAndreis, 2022). This led to the seizure of 2.3 million litres of olive oil with a value of €170,000 (DeAndreis, 2022). In total, fines of €10 million were distributed to those who carried out the violations (DeAndreis, 2022).

Also recently, supermarkets in Brazil removed 24 brands of olive oil from their shelves after they were found to be fraudulent (Food Fraud Risk Information, 2022a). Potentially three companies were packing oils which were not olive oil into olive oil bottles (Food Fraud Risk Information, 2022a).

Another example of olive oil sold as extra virgin olive oil was in 2019, when Europol seized 150,000 litres of fraudulent olive oil (Smith et al., 2021). This product was estimated to be making the fraudsters $12 million a year (Smith et al., 2021).

c. Horsemeat: As with olive oil, fraudulent selling of horsemeat is an ongoing issue. Horsegate, the original scandal involving horsemeat, was first discovered in 2013 (Brooks et al., 2021). Recently, on 3 June 2022, it was reported that authorities in Belgium were questioning six people about changing the identity of horses and diverting them to the food chain (Food Safety News, 2022).

Of the 230 horse passports reviewed by the Federal Agency for the Safety of the Food Chain reviewed 35 were found to be falsified (Food Safety News, 2022).

Horsemeat fraud has also been linked to COVID-19 issues (Brooks et al., 2021).

d. COVID-19: Although many businesses were impacted by COVID-19, food fraudsters were not (Tolu, 2021). It was said that COVID-19 provided the perfect storm for food fraud (Tolu, 2021). This was helped by the lockdowns, which prevented in-person checks and relied on paper documentation which can be counterfeit (Tolu, 2021). Another contributing factor was the stretch on the supply chain (Brooks et al., 2021). Furthermore, staff who normally carry out checks at businesses may also have been required to isolate and work from home (Brooks et al., 2021).

The percentage increases in food fraud seen in Table 1 can be deceiving as small numbers of fraud cases can equal large percentages (Frera et al., 2021).

COVID-19 led to an increase in purchasing food online (Tolu, 2021). As mentioned fraudsters have seen this increase as a new channel to sell fraudulent products (Tolu, 2021).

Although many fraudulent food products have been found, the actual extent of fraud due to COVID-19 issues is unknown (Brooks et al., 2021). Even now COVID-19 disruptions are still causing supply chain issues.

e. Alcohol: In INTERPOL and Europol’s annual operation OPSON X, which ran from December 2020 to June 2021, illicit alcoholic drinks were the top of the list of seized items (Tolu, 2021). The previous year they were listed second (Tolu, 2021).

In Mexico and the Dominion Republic alcohol containing methanol was able to be sold due to precautions in place to try and stop the spread of COVID-19 (Brooks et al., 2021). This unfortunately led to the death of 282 people (Brooks et al., 2021).

Conclusion

In today’s world with many issues affecting the supply of food, intensified by COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine, data shows food fraud is increasing. Working together to define food fraud, and agree on mitigation strategies, including preferred analytical techniques for food types, will enhance the fight against food fraud.

Collaboration to ensure global knowledge sharing is beneficial in preventing and detecting fraudulent activities. This is important as fraudulent activities are costing legitimate companies money in lost sales, and potentially, especially if customers are harmed, brand damage.

In an effort to prevent food fraud, in 2018 GFSI implemented the requirement for companies to introduce VACCP, ensuring they carry out a food fraud vulnerability review and implement a mitigation plan to prevent the identified vulnerabilities.

It is important that once implemented, VACCP documentation is viewed as a living document with businesses constantly scanning the horizon for potential issues which relate to their industry. Analytical testing is likely to be a growing part of companies’ VACCP plans as test prices decrease.

There are various analytical techniques which can be used to detect food fraud, with currently no single method suitable for all food types. Next-generation genetic sequencing (NGS) testing is likely to be implemented by more companies going forward due to its ability to analyse many species at once.

Analytical testing to detect food fraud is still in its infancy with the cost of currently available techniques being prohibitive to most companies. Available techniques will require inter-laboratory comparisons to be established to ensure consistency around the world.

As the fight against food fraud is a team effort, developing sector specific food fraud prevention and mitigation documentation will help all companies, especially those which do not have resources, to focus on areas of most risk.

References

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