Do You Know What You Are Eating?

FOOD Do You Know What You Are Eating?

A closer look at food fraud means buyers must learn to be vigilant

BY MOHAMMAD ABDULLAH

Misrepresentation, substitution, mislabeling and other methods of food fraud never stop. For example, as processing meat involves several steps, in 2013 people buying “beef” in Europe were actually buying beef mixed with horsemeat.

University of Guelph (Canada) researchers found that 20% of sausage samples collected from grocery stores nationwide were mislabeled and cross-species contaminated. The Oceana seafood fraud investigation report, which DNAtested 1,200+ samples from hundreds of U.S. retail locations, revealed that one third of the samples were mislabeled.

In 2014, an Iowa food supplier was charged with selling $4.9 million worth of beef as “halal” (The Guardian, Dec. 15, 2014). Peterborough (U.K.)-based Dutch Bangla Ltd.’s 100+ tons of “halal lamb” was actually ground turkey (BBC News, March 9, 2017, https://www.bbc.com/ news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-39220397). Last December, The New Straits Times (Malaysia) unearthed a meat cartel that had been forging halal documents for beef for 40 years, even passing off horse/kangaroo meat as beef (www.nst. com.my/news/nation/2020/12/651322/cartel-crackdown-neither-beef-nor-halal).

Such scandals should also be a wakeup call for those who give blanket acceptance of consuming meats and foods of the People of the Book (Ahle-Kitab).

According to the Interpol’s July 22, 2020 “Operation Opson,” more than $40 million worth of potentially dangerous fake food and drink was seized, involving 19 organized crime groups and the arrest of 407 individuals worldwide (www.interpol.int/en/News-and-Events/News/2020/Food-fraud-in-times-of-COVID-19).

The FDA defines food fraud as “economically motivated adulteration” (EMA). Simply put, food fraud is committed when you find out that the food you purchased is inauthentic — it’s not what you paid for.

According to another report, higher-value fish (e.g., red snapper, catfish, and salmon) are substituted with cheaper and more abundant fish. Extra virgin olive oil is often blended with cheaper oils (www.newyorker.com/search/q/errico/ page/2/r,n; Tom Mueller, “Extra Virginity: The Sublime and Scandalous World of Olive Oil,” 2011). Honey is adulterated with high-fructose corn syrup and other sweeteners. Orange juice is watered down. Color additives, such as Sudan red dye, are added to enhance the color of poor quality paprika. Melamine is added to diluted milk to increase protein contents (www.foodsafety-experts.com/food-safety/ food-fraud-prevention/).

Today, food fraud is a global business worth more than $50 billion annually. The Grocery Manufacturers of America estimates that the annual EMA cost in the U.S. ranges between $10 to $15 billion. It remains a significant issue for food processors. The 2019 Food Safety Insight survey revealed that 36% of U.S./Canada and 33% of international food processors consider EMA a significant issue. For combined U.S./Canada and international food producers, 15% reported detecting food fraud in their supply chains, and 29% currently use analytical testing to detect it. Food commodities for which EMA was a significant issue were spices (56%), seafood (44%), beverages (42%), meat (36%), dairy products (35%), fruit and vegetables (31%) and grains and milled products (24%) (https:// fsns.com/news/an-update-on-food-fraud). The requirements for regulatory compliance on mitigating vulnerability generally focus on food safety, not religious dietary requirements. One 2019 survey presented in the Journal of Food Science identified overall food fraud as a “food safety” issue (86%) and “food fraud” issue (50%) (pubmed.ncbi.nlm. nih.gov/31546281/). Consequently, many such incidents go undetected or unreported because they usually don’t result in a food safety risk and consumers often may not see the quality problem. This is especially relevant to halal meat consumers, who generally look at the “halal” logo and not necessarily at the product’s quality attributes.

Those who have become more conscious about what they consume and want to purchase halal “grass-fed” or halal “certified-organic” meats may not find these products in the ethnic grocery stores and supermarkets, although they do carry halal fresh, frozen and Ready-to-Eat (RTE) meat and poultry products.

The paradox is that some of the plants that produce conventional “grass-fed” or conventional “certified-organic” meats may be halal accredited and produce halal meat on an as-needed basis. A while back, after reading an article about “certified-organic” in LinkedIn, I wondered why halal “certified-organic” beef is unavailable. So far, my post has been viewed

270+ times, but I’m still waiting for even one response to my concern.

Europol, Interpol and even some halal certification organizations often urge consumers to remain vigilant. And for good reason — in 2007, melamine that had been inserted into pet food killed many dogs and cats in the U.S.

The real need, however, is a comprehensive program for food producers and distributors to mitigate the food fraud pandemic. Consumers don’t know if their food comes from a dubious source,

of halal meat. But if an observant Muslim consumer is asked about the most important thing when buying a meat product, the answer — authentic halal — would be second to none. The need for transparency to increase consumer trust in safe, nutritious and authentic foods has never been greater. However, this has become a challenging task for the food industry and its regulators. The current system seems to lack the resources to adequately combat food fraud. Some question the fragmented oversight responsibilities by various government agencies or think that these agencies play a double role. For example, the USDA helps livestock farmers make their business profitable, but is also responsible for enforcing food safety regulations that may be unfavorable to the industry’s bottom line. Similarly, the FDA has a “Standard of Identity” for “Meat,” “Milk,” FOOD FRAUD AND THE CONTROVERSIAL NATURE “Cheese,” “Butter” and “Yogurt”; however, it also allows the production of plant-based prod-

OF SOME FOOD INGREDIENTS UNDERSCORE ucts such as “Almond Milk,” “Peanut Butter” THE FACT THAT MORE AND MORE PEOPLE ARE PAYING CLOSER ATTENTION TO WHAT THEY EAT. and “Beyond Beef” (https://fsns.com/news/ an-update-on-food-fraud). The perpetrators of food fraud are organized

IT’S ALL ABOUT ENSURING AUTHENTICITY. crime groups that take advantage of this situation. Consumers need a global food fraud prevention strategy that focuses beyond food safety. Regulatory agencies are acting. A Canadian as they don’t know exactly what terms like “natural Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) study determined the cross-contamination baseline flavor” refer to. For instance, The New Scientist, April for working with meat processors to achieve a transparent food supply (“University 7, 2021, reported that the long search for a natu- of Guelph Conducts First-Ever Sausage Mislabeling Study,” Food Control, Aug. ral alternative to artificial [petrochemicals-based] 4, 2017; https://news.uoguelph.ca/2017/08/sausage-study/). The U.S. Food Safety blue food coloring (Brilliant Blue FCF or E133) may Modernization Act (FSMA) requires food processors to take a comprehensive look have come to an end, with Pamela Denish and her at the entire supply chain and focus more on preventing, rather than responding University of California team discovering a blue pig- to, contamination incidents. FSMA also includes requirements for “food defense” ment in cabbage (https://www.newscientist.com/ designed to prevent malicious adulteration to prevent incidences such as the article/2273889). bioterror attack on restaurant salad bars in The Dalles, Ore., carried out by a

Case in point: In 2001, because of a lawsuit that Baghwan Shree Rajneesh cultist during the early 1980s that sickened 751 people alleged deceptive use of beef flavoring by McDonald’s, (“The Secret’s in the Sauce: Bioterror at the Salsa Bar,” http://www.slate.com). the company contradicted its previous claims that it Also, some states are taking action. California requires farmers market venuses 100% vegetable oil for its French fries by stat- dors to display the farm’s name, location and the statement, “We grow what we ing that it has always used beef flavoring, a “natural sell.” Violators are fined. flavor” that, by law, doesn’t have to be declared (https:// Some companies are using blockchain tracking of a food product’s journey cbsnews.com/news/mcdonalds-settles-beef-over- through the supply chain to pinpoint where the fraud occurs. Moreover, new fries/). Subway was also sued for fraud as regards its detection techniques continue to evolve to combat honey fraud, prevent spices tuna sandwiches (https://www.foodandwine.com/ (herb) adulteration and analyze the quality and authenticity of edible oils. The news/subway-tuna-lawsuit). government is also taking steps to regulate food sold online (www.newfoodmag-

Food fraud and the controversial nature of some azine.com>topic>food-fraud). food ingredients underscore the fact that more and Advancement continues. The makers of a new rapid testing technology more people are paying closer attention to what they claim that in less than 5 years, consumers will be able to hold a scanner that can eat. It’s all about ensuring authenticity. tell them their food’s entire molecular makeup (www.foodfraudadvisors.com/

Eating nourishing food keeps the body and mind preventing-food-fraud-testing-is-not-the-answer/). healthy during stressful times. Your concern that the However, adulteration remains hard to detect unless you know what you’re foods and beverages that you routinely consume may looking for. For example, DNA testing can determine if the “Pure Beef Patty not contain the ingredients that you think they do Mix” product is made from a cow, but not whether it contains undeclared PDCB is not idle. (Partially Defatted Chopped Beef), let alone how the cow was slaughtered.

In 2017, after my Friday khutba at the Islamic There is no simple and quick cure for this fundamentally complex centuCenter of Guelph about the importance of eating ries-old global problem. However, Muslims need to stay informed. Meanwhile, halal food, stressing that halal-meat purveyors should recognizing the pandemic’s continuing stressors, buyers should purchase better provide more information to consumers, not surpris- quality meats, fresh fruits and vegetables, as well as unprocessed foods, whenever ingly one person said doing so would further raise possible to bolster their immune system. ih the genre’s already high price. Such a perspective is Mohammad Abdullah, DVM, MS, MPH, deputy district manager (ret.) USDA-FSIS is author of “A Closer Look at Halal Meat: often at odds with how some of us conceive the issue From Farm to Fork” (2016).