Tag Archives: food fraud

Food Fraud Quick Bites

Highlights and significant changes of USDA’s revised regulations on organic foods

By Jennifer Allen
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On March 19, 2024, the USDA implemented revised regulations on organic foods. The overall purpose of the revisions is to strengthen enforcement of the regulations, with a focus on greater accountability for organic food fraud. This article does not go into every detail of the changes. That would be a long and rather dull read, and you could just as well go read the new regulations for yourself. But it does highlight some of what this writer believes are the most significant changes, and to the extent your compliance with the organic regulations has been on autopilot, this is a reminder to take the wheel and make sure you know how the new regulations affect you.

Perhaps the most significant change is to the scope of what it means to “handle” organic products. Before the revisions, handling meant selling, processing, or packaging agricultural products. Now, handling includes trading, facilitating the sale or trade on behalf of a seller or yourself, importing and exporting, as well as a number of other activities including conditioning, containerizing, and labeling. Thus, the universe of individuals and entities that could be on the hook for organic fraud, and who may need to be certified by the USDA, just got significantly larger. What this means is that even if all you do is hit buttons on a computer keyboard, and you never lay your hands on a piece of produce, you can still be responsible if the product you are trading turns out to be falsely labeled or otherwise noncompliant. There are exemptions from certification, but you still need to be compliant with the rules.

There are some changes in exemptions under the revised rule. Restaurants and stores that cook or prepare food and then sell it to consumers at the same location are exempt. But online sellers are not. Companies that store packaged and sealed products are exempt, but those who store bulk and unpackaged products must be certified. Customs brokers and logistics brokers – those who merely connect operations with carriers and storage facilities – are exempt. Likewise, businesses whose only job is to transport products are exempt, but handlers must still use audit trails and traceability to ensure that their carrier does not compromise the organic integrity of the product.

With respect to fraud, the term “organic fraud” is now defined, as “deceptive representation, sale or labeling of nonorganic agricultural products or ingredients as . . . organic.” New regulations relating to traceability make it easier to follow a product from birth to sale. New language requires certified operations to keep records that “span the time of purchase or acquisition, through production, to sale or transport and be traceable back to the last certified operation.”  And certifying agents must conduct risk-based supply chain traceability audits to trace products across multiple links in a supply chain.

These are just some of the changes that USDA has made to ensure that consumers paying a premium for organic products are getting what they pay for. If you are part of the chain of organic products, then make sure you know how the changes affect your organization.

Food Traceability and Authentication in the AI Era

By Maria-Eleni Dimitrakopoulou
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Food traceability provides comprehensive information about a product’s history and origin, facilitating efficient recalls and supply chain management. However, distinct types of food fraud, such as concealment, counterfeit, and mislabelling, pose significant challenges. The integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and new regulatory measures, like the FDA’s traceability rule, enhance food safety and authenticity, fostering a more transparent and reliable food supply chain.

In the intricate web of the global food supply chain, ensuring the safety and authenticity of consumables stands as a paramount concern. Food traceability, defined as the ability to provide comprehensive information about the history and origin of a product throughout its journey, emerges as a cornerstone in this endeavour. This meticulous documentation not only facilitates supply chain management but also empowers swift actions such as recalls in the event of safety or quality breaches.

Beyond its logistical benefits, food traceability assumes a pivotal role in safeguarding consumer interests. By serving as a fundamental component of food safety and quality assurance, traceability ensures transparency and accountability at every stage of production and distribution. However, the efficacy of a traceability system is inherently tied to the credibility of its origins, paving the way for the convergence of food traceability and authentication.

Unveiling the Shadows: The Challenge of Food Adulteration

In an era plagued by instances of food adulteration and mislabelling, the imperative for robust authentication mechanisms becomes increasingly apparent. Reports from international and national research bodies shed light on a myriad of cases spanning various food categories, from wine and spirits to olive oil, fish, meat, and beyond. This pervasive challenge underscores the need for stringent standards and regulatory frameworks to combat fraudulence and uphold consumer trust.

Food fraud manifests in several forms, each presenting unique challenges for detection and prevention. For example:

  • Concealment involves hiding inferior or harmful ingredients within a product to avoid detection. An example of this is the addition of melamine in milk to falsely increase protein content readings, which led to a major scandal in China.
  • Counterfeit products replicate and sell a product under the guise of a well-known brand, often with substandard quality. These fake products can range from everyday items like bottled water to high-end goods like wines and spirits. Counterfeiting not only deceives consumers but also damages brand reputations and violates intellectual property rights.
  • Botanical Authentication ensures that plant-based products are derived from the claimed species and not substituted with cheaper alternatives. This is particularly important for products like herbal supplements, teas, and spices. For instance, saffron, one of the most expensive spices in the world, is often adulterated with less expensive substances such as dyed corn stigmas or safflower.
  • Geographical Origin fraud involves misrepresenting the region from which a product originates. Certain regions are known for producing specific high-quality foods and beverages, such as Champagne from France or Parmigiano Reggiano cheese from Italy. Mislabelling products to benefit from these reputations deceives consumers and undermines genuine producers.
  • Substitution entails replacing a high-value ingredient with a lower-cost one. This is common in products like olive oil, honey, and seafood. For example, extra virgin olive oil might be diluted with cheaper oils, or expensive fish species like tuna might be replaced with less costly ones like escolar. This not only cheats consumers but can also pose health risks.
  • Mislabelling involves incorrectly listing ingredients or nutritional information on labels. An example is claiming a product is organic when it is not.
  • Dilution involves adding water or other substances to increase the volume of a product. For instance, diluting fruit juices with water and not declaring it.
  • Unapproved Enhancements involve using unauthorized substances to enhance the appearance or quality of a product. An example is adding unauthorized dyes to make a product look fresher or more appealing.
  • Theft and Resale refers to stealing products and reintroducing them into the market through unauthorized channels. For example, reselling stolen goods without proper storage conditions.
  • Artificial Additives involves using artificial ingredients to mimic the qualities of a natural product. For example, adding synthetic vanilla flavor instead of natural vanilla extraction

The New Traceability Rule of FDA

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has introduced a new traceability rule aimed at enhancing the ability to trace the origin of foods throughout the supply chain more efficiently. This rule mandates that companies maintain more rigorous records of their supply chains, focusing on high-risk foods. The implementation of this rule is expected to significantly improve the speed and accuracy of traceability in the event of a foodborne illness outbreak or contamination incident, thus ensuring faster recalls and reducing the risk to public health.

The Dawn of a New Era: Advancements in Food Fraud

As the spectre of food fraud looms large, there arises an urgent demand for sophisticated analytical techniques to authenticate foodstuffs with precision and reliability. Here, the advent of Artificial Intelligence (AI) heralds a new era of innovation. AI-driven algorithms can sift through vast datasets, identifying patterns and anomalies that elude traditional methods. Machine learning models can analyse complex chemical compositions, flagging deviations indicative of adulteration or mislabelling. By harnessing the power of AI, authorities can fortify their efforts in safeguarding consumer interests and preserving the integrity of the global food market.

Charting the Course Ahead: Toward a Safer, More Authentic Future

In the pursuit of food safety and quality, the symbiotic relationship between traceability and fraud, bolstered by AI technologies, emerges as a beacon of hope. By fortifying supply chain transparency and deploying cutting-edge analytical methods, stakeholders can navigate the complexities of the modern food landscape with confidence and integrity. The integration of the FDA’s new traceability rule further strengthens this endeavour, ensuring a safer and more reliable food supply chain for all.

Emily Newton, Revolutionized Magazine

6 Ways IoT Asset Tracking Ensures Safe Distribution and Better Traceability

By Emily Newton
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Emily Newton, Revolutionized Magazine

Internet of Things (IoT) sensors are being used in industries across the spectrum, and their potential is far from being realized. The data provided via IoT asset tracking technologies, in particular, can enhance traceability and product integrity, leading to safer food and reducing costly losses. Following are six ways IoT tracking sensors support food safety, traceability and accountability.

Vendor Compliance

Adulteration occurs more often in the supply chain than any professional cares to admit. Some experts estimate it has a $50 billion annual impact on the food industry. Whether motivated by financial gain or product shortages, opportunistic intermediaries will take advantage of poor food traceability and make substitutions, dilutions or falsifications.

To prevent bringing adulterated products to market and keep consumers safe, manufacturers must hold their third-party vendors accountable at every stage of the distribution process, and IoT asset tracking sensors can help. They have the ability to record shipment movements in real time, so companies can ensure that their products and raw materials arrive and remain in the right places at each step in the chain.

Further, manufacturers can reduce the chances of product tampering by using IoT sensors that alert you when someone damages packaging. Bad actors are much less likely to commit food fraud when they know highly sophisticated technology is monitoring their actions and movements.

Damage Detection

Food products, especially those in the cold chain, can bruise, break and flatten relatively quickly, causing financial losses. For instance, grain loses significant value when damaged due to improper handling. Through a combination of IoT sensors and sensing nodes that can track the condition of products and provide relevant, real-time updates, companies can ensure their shipments stay intact throughout distribution and transportation.

Theft Reduction

Cargo theft is a significant problem that’s relatively new to the food industry. According to the FBI, it costs supply chain vendors and retailers up to $30 billion annually. While thieves have historically targeted electronics or high-cost imports, food inflation is making food products a top target as of 2023.

Industrial IoT sensors improve food traceability by tracking a shipment’s movement through the supply chain. They can provide real-time location data or update food-manufacturing professionals when the product reaches a particular destination. Companies can use this data to pinpoint sources of cargo theft, delays or mishandling, increasing product safety and reducing loss.

Spoilage Detection

Spoilage claims 33% of food products manufacturers produce, resulting in over $1 trillion in losses annually. This figure probably isn’t surprising for professionals working in the cold chain, as transportation condition management is incredibly complex and expensive.

Even if food appears fine for human consumption, undetected issues can be catastrophic down the line. A single recall costs a food company over $10 million on average, not accounting for lost sales or reputational damage.

With IoT asset tracking, industry professionals can monitor temperature, humidity and chemical compounds to improve the integrity of their products and ensure safe distribution. They can place sensors inside their vehicles or in packaging to monitor all changes.

Since these sensors provide a complete temperature and humidity account, professionals can even collect data for future use to forecast potential losses when conditions become abnormal. This allows companies to take action quickly to prevent spoilage, dramatically reducing the chances of a recall.

Enhanced Data Collection

An IoT sensor utilizing radio frequency identification (RFID) can collect a massive amount of data on distribution and transportation conditions that industry professionals can gather and store for future use. This information provides insights into route optimization and/or sources of contamination. With the addition of artificial intelligence, these sensors can maximize food traceability by validating everything passing through a gate.

If retailers wish to make some of this information available to end users, they can publish it or use specialized barcodes. Customers will get to review the origin of the raw materials and products, providing increased awareness of where their food comes from and the path it took to get to their store.

Faster Traceability

One in six people every year become sick due to a foodborne illness. It is up to manufacturers, distributors and retailers to ensure product quality and prevent these illnesses. When outbreaks do occur, it is up to manufacturers—both morally and legally—to trace that product and remove it before others are affected.

Luckily, IoT devices meet all the necessary regulatory criteria. RFID and other technologies can trace products in real time and alert the relevant parties of any significant changes. For example, they could track a perishable produce shipment and notify retailers and manufacturers of an extreme temperature spike.

Since these sensors can send out instantaneous alerts, nearby professionals can immediately respond before product becomes contaminated or spoils. Whether they are alerted to temperature fluctuations, suspected tampering or imminent spoilage, they can move quickly to address the concern.

IoT asset tracking is an innovative approach to common industry pain points. It addresses the food sector’s unique needs, taking perishables, food compliance and adulteration into account. With such significant food traceability improvements, manufacturers, distributors and retailers will have a much easier time coordinating their operations to increase safety, speed to market and the quality of their products.

Food Safety Consortium 2023
Food Safety Think Tank

The Rise of Unforeseen Hazards and New Regulatory Strategies

By Food Safety Tech Staff
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Food Safety Consortium 2023

The food industry is facing new challenges in food safety due to the introduction of novel foods and extreme weather events. In recent years, flaws within the nation’s regulatory system have also come to light. On October 16-18, food safety and quality professionals will gather at the 2023 Food Safety Consortium in Parsippany, New Jersey, to share lessons learned, join discussions with regulatory bodies and gain knowledge on how to mitigate current and coming food safety challenges. Join your peers as we examine topics including: 

Modernizing the U.S. Food Safety System

Following the infant formula crisis, the food industry, the public and the U.S. legislature called for changes to how we regulate food in the U.S. In this session, we look at key concerns and shortcomings with our current regulatory framework and how the system can be modernized to better address—and reduce—the most likely foodborne illness risks facing today’s consumers.

Panelists: Stephen Ostroff, M.D. former Acting FDA Commissioner, Bill Marler, Food Safety Attorney; Barbara Kowalcyk, Executive Director, Center for Foodborne Illness and Panelist of the Reagan-Udall Foundation for the FDA. Moderated by Inga Hansen, Managing Editor, Food Safety Tech.

View the full agenda.

The Rise of Previously Unforeseen Hazards

With the combined effects of the recent pandemic, globalization, climate change, digitalization, and decreased regulatory inspection oversight, it is inevitable that previously unforeseen food safety hazards have emerged from within the food sectors previously thought low risk. Arguably, the rise of previously unforeseen food hazards may be attributed to the following:

  • Food Fraud. The addition of food fraud adulterants such as non-food grade chemicals, unapproved colors and flavors, and non-compatible allergenic ingredients, pose health risks to consumers. These hazards are changing and becoming more sophisticated.
  • Fusion Foods. With the internationalization food, food ingredients are being used in new and unexpected ways. As a result, new and unexpected hazards may occur, which may not be accounted for in food safety plans.
  • Clean Labeling. Foods that are considered “natural”, “healthy”, and “sustainable”, are free of artificial ingredients, to include preservatives. As foods are reformulated, hazards that were previously not a concern may become more prevalent.
  • Protein Alternatives. Food safety hazard analysis of plant-based and cell-cultured proteins cannot be approached in the same manner as traditional meat and poultry processing.

In this session, Tim Lombardo, Senior Director for Food Consulting Services, EAS Consulting examines the challenges of identifying emerging hazards associated with Food Fraud, Food Fusion, Clean Labeling, and Protein Alternatives as well as mitigation strategies to minimize these risks.

Make Data Useful Again: Building an Analytics Strategy to Drive FSQA Performance

Are you tired of sifting through vast amounts of data that don’t provide the valuable insights you need for your business? We understand that not all data is created equal, and it can be overwhelming to determine which information truly matters for making critical decisions. In today’s digital, world where every solution promises data insights, finding the right analytics and meaningful insights is crucial for success. Join our panel discussion where three seasoned F&B industry experts will share their hard-earned lessons and best practices for navigating the data deluge. Learn how they have successfully identified and utilized the data that matters, enabling them to drive important decisions and uncover critical gaps in visibility to revolutionize FSQA and supply chain programs.

Panelists: Gary Smith, Vice President, Quality Systems, Food Brands, 1-800-Flowers and Paul Bradley, Senior Director Product Marketing, TraceGains

Registration options are available for in-person and hybrid team attendance.

 

Laura Dunn Nelson, Intertek Alchemy

Navigating Food Industry Challenges Requires a Comprehensive Crisis Management Plan

By Laura Dunn Nelson
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Laura Dunn Nelson, Intertek Alchemy

The food industry has faced numerous challenges in recent years that have disrupted its stability and normal operations. While it might feel like the industry is finally starting to stabilize, there is still a long way to go to achieve a steady new normal. The industry remains extremely vulnerable to inflation pressures, product shortages, cyberattacks and food fraud. Any one of these risks can send a manufacturer or restaurant scrambling to replace missing ingredients or supplies and resume operations.

In today’s unpredictable landscape, crisis management plans are essential for reducing downtime, safeguarding food quality and maintaining customer trust. These plans help establish backup suppliers in times of supply chain disruptions and bolster defenses against cyberattacks and food fraud. While there is no one-size-fits-all approach, developing a customized crisis management plan tailored to your specific production risks is crucial. Below are some insights into using a crisis management plan to tackle common threats faced by food manufacturers and restaurants.

Vendor Management: Ensuring Continuity

Vendors play a key role in the food industry, and their vulnerabilities can directly impact your food safety and quality. Ingredient shortages and price fluctuations create supply chain disruptions that must be managed through proactive measures.

Including a vendor replacement strategy in the crisis management plan enables quick adaptation to unforeseen circumstances. This strategy should encompass multiple sourcing options, rigorous vendor audits, effective communication channels, comprehensive product specifications and efficient change management processes.

Detecting and Preventing Food Fraud

When supply chains are disrupted, food fraud becomes a serious concern. Counterfeiting, dilution, substitution and mislabeling pose risks to both food quality and safety. To combat food fraud effectively, it’s important to vet suppliers to ensure they provide the correct ingredients and adhere to quality standards.

Integrating your supplier selection processes into the crisis management plan will help ensure consistency as you vet new suppliers. Additionally, frontline employees should receive training to detect food fraud. This includes training that enables them to identify abnormalities in raw materials, manufacturing processes and finished goods.

Risk management is not solely the responsibility of leadership. To effectively combat food fraud, it needs to be part of your frontline worker food safety training program.

Safeguarding Against Cyber Threats

With increasing reliance on technology, the food industry has become more vulnerable than ever to cyber threats. Last year, the U.S. cybersecurity company Dragos identified the food and beverage sector as the second largest victim of cyberattacks, making it imperative to prioritize cybersecurity measures.

While robust security platforms and backup systems are important, the most effective defense lies in having an informed workforce trained to identify and prevent potential attacks. It’s critical to ensure your crisis management plan includes preventative measures such as educating employees on recognizing suspicious emails, updating passwords regularly and avoiding risky online behavior.

Transparent Communication Builds Trust

When changes occur in suppliers, products or ingredients, transparent communication with your customers is vital. The crisis management plan should lay out clear guidelines for informing customers on important updates, including formulation and label changes when different ingredients or formulas are used. These guidelines should have the agreement and support of multiple internal departments, including management, marketing, production, safety and quality. Implementing thorough communication strategies can be time-consuming, but surprising customers with unexpected product changes can cause lasting damage to their trust and loyalty.

In today’s challenging food industry environment, proactive planning and risk mitigation are crucial for preserving business continuity, brand reputation and customer relationships. A comprehensive crisis management plan tailored to address specific threats is essential. By prioritizing cybersecurity, vendor management, fraud prevention and transparent communication, food businesses can navigate the challenges effectively and ensure their long-term success in this rapidly evolving landscape.

Conor Kearney

FoodChain ID Announces New CEO

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Conor Kearney

Conor Kearney has been appointed CEO of FoodChain ID. He succeeds Brad Riemenapp, who led FoodChain ID as CEO for more than five years before his death due to cancer in May. Kearney joined FoodChain ID in 2021 and most recently served as Interim CEO during Riemenapp’s medical leave of absence.

Kearney previously served as the company’s Senior Vice President of Strategy and Operations. Before joining FoodChain ID, he worked for 11 years at Staples, holding multiple leadership roles, and five years at McKinsey & Company. Kearney earned his MBA from Harvard Business School and a bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Dartmouth College.

“Conor has already had a significant impact on FoodChain ID. His collaborative leadership style and ability to rally the organization to achieve its goals make him the absolute right person to lead FoodChain ID in the next stage of its growth journey,” said Ted Rainaud, Managing Director at Berkshire Partners.

“Brad was a great mentor to me, and I’m committed to continue building on his vision and delivering on FoodChain ID’s mission to make the food supply chain safer and more transparent,” said Kearney.

 

Food Safety Consortium 2023
From the Editor’s Desk

Registration Open for the 2023 Food Safety Consortium

By Food Safety Tech Staff
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Food Safety Consortium 2023

Registration for the 11th Annual Food Safety Consortium, which will take place October 16-18 at the Hilton Parsippany in New Jersey, is now open.

Presented by Food Safety Tech, the Food Safety Consortium is a business-to-business conference that brings together food safety and quality assurance professionals for education, networking and discussion geared toward solving the key challenges facing the food safety industry today.

In addition to two full days of high-level panel discussions, this year’s program will include a second Food Safety Hazards track. These “Boots on the Ground” sessions provide education on the detection, mitigation, control and regulation of key food hazards.

New this year is a strategic co-location with the Cannabis Quality Conference (CQC), a business-to-business conference and expo where cannabis industry leaders and stakeholders meet to build the future of the cannabis marketplace. Registered attendees get full access to both conferences.

Registration options are available for in-person and virtual attendance.

The Consortium will kick off with presentations from Erik Mettler, Assistant Commissioner for Partnerships and Policy in the FDA’s Office of Regulatory Affairs (ORA), and Sandra Eskin, Deputy Under Secretary for Food Safety at the USDA FSIS, followed by a Town Hall with the regulators.

Other agenda highlights include:

  • The Future of Food Safety Culture
  • The Rise of Previously Unforeseen Hazards,
  • FSMA 204: The Final Rule – Looking Ahead,
  • Anti-Food Fraud Tactics for the Entire Supply Chain
  • Bridging the gap between food safety and cybersecurity
    Protecting Allergic Consumers through Audited and Validated Allergen Control Plans
  • Succession Planning for Food Safety Inspectors
    Utilizing Food Quality Plans to Ignite Positive Food Safety Culture
  • Recalls Trends and Predictions

View the full agenda and register here.

Attendees will also have the opportunity to take part in pre-conference workshops on Monday, October 16, including:

  • Food Safety Auditor Training
  • CP-FS Credential Review Course
  • The Food Safety Culture Design Workshop
  • The Seed to Sale Safety Workshop

Event Hours

Monday, October 16: 8:30 am – 5:00 pm (Pre-conference Workshops)

Tuesday, October 17: 8 am – 6:30 pm

Wednesday, October 18: 8:30 am – 3:45 pm

Register now

Tabletop exhibits and custom sponsorship packages are available. Contact Sales Director RJ Palermo.

About Food Safety Tech

Food Safety Tech is a digital media community for food industry professionals interested in food safety and quality. We inform, educate and connect food manufacturers and processors, retail & food service, food laboratories, growers, suppliers and vendors, and regulatory agencies with original, in-depth features and reports, curated industry news and user-contributed content, and live and virtual events that offer knowledge, perspectives, strategies and resources to facilitate an environment that fosters safer food for consumers.

About the Food Safety Consortium

The Food Safety Consortium is an educational and networking event for Food Protection that has food safety, food integrity and food defense as the foundation of its educational content. With a unique focus on science, technology and compliance, the “Consortium” enables attendees to engage in conversations that are critical for advancing careers and organizations alike. Delegates visit with exhibitors to learn about cutting-edge solutions, explore high-level educational tracks, and network with industry executives to find solutions to improve quality, efficiency and cost effectiveness in the evolving food industry.

 

George Gansner

Now is the Time to Reassess the Food Industry’s Approach to Managing Risk

By George Gansner
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George Gansner

The food industry is under intense scrutiny, with concerns about food safety and quality making headlines around the world. Today, the industry faces unprecedented challenges when it comes to ensuring the safety and security of the global food supply chain. Leaders need to manage known concerns such as foodborne pathogens, food fraud and contamination, as well as emerging challenges, including ingredient scarcity and changes in consumer preferences that have created the need to reformulate recipes quickly, source from new suppliers, and increase imports—all of which contribute to increased risks.

Due to climate change and shifting environmental factors we are seeing crop failures, and new bacteria and antimicrobial resistance to foodborne pathogens, which increase the cost of managing food safety. As consumers demand greater transparency and look to place more trust in the food chain, changing buyer habits further compound these challenges by putting a greater onus on food handling, production, manufacturing, and supply companies to provide more education to consumers about foodborne illnesses.

Recalls are the biggest threat to a brand’s profitability and reputation, and this threat is growing. According to FDA reports, recalls increased by 700% in 2022, with undeclared allergens being the leading cause for the last five years. The Food Safety Authority in the UK tells a similar story with undeclared allergens accounting for 84 of the 150 recalls last year, followed by salmonella, listeria, and foreign body contamination.

As food regulations become more complex to navigate, it is now essential to reassess the industry’s approach to managing risk. Protocols such as VACCP and TACCP are regularly used as part of a solid food defense program to identify risks. But the traditional approach of relying solely on regulations and compliance-based systems is no longer sufficient to ensure food safety in today’s complex, volatile and globalized food supply chains. Now is the time to implement a more holistic and dynamic risk-based approach to managing food safety more effectively.

What Is a Risk-Based Approach to Food Safety?

A risk-based approach allows the industry to proactively identify potential food safety risks and take appropriate measures to mitigate them, rather than simply responding to problems as they arise. For example, mature food businesses are building on food safety management systems with food safety audits to identify and manage risk to stay ahead of the curve. A risk-based approach helps underpin the continuous improvement process and, by doing so, demonstrates the ability of a company to be a trusted partner in the global food supply chain.

One of the key aspects of a risk-based approach to managing food safety is proactive intervention and control, using relevant data analysis stored in a cloud-based platform. All stakeholders need access to accurate and actionable data during risk assessment and management to make informed decisions. However, there are many barriers to accessing risk-related data for smaller operators, many of which are still working in a largely manual way.

Data must be collated from across the business, and multiple data sources need to be collected and appropriately analyzed to protect both the brand and public health. It is estimated that we are at least 10 years away from any type of interoperability of industry data, which will allow better transparency and visibility of risk across the supply chain.

Stay Ahead of Emerging Legislation

Visibility of the emerging legislation in source countries of ingredients and raw materials is critical, as are contingency sourcing plans and good risk analysis protocols. Food integrity needs to be a standing agenda point as part of internal meetings, and ESG policies need to be visibly delivered. The industry needs to ensure that it is aware of changes in regulations that could impact the safety and quality of its products through horizon scanning tools. There is also an onus on the industry to make its risk assessments more dynamic to incorporate change at a frequency that is appropriate for risk evaluation with effective crisis management plans in place.

Supply Chain Management Is Critical

Sourcing raw materials and ingredients across supply chains requires best practices. You must ensure that your supply chain partners and suppliers know how to manage a crisis and that emerging risks are shared across the supply chain. Quality, food safety, and regulatory divisions must actively participate in risk assessments and receive relevant data and communication. ESG policies also need to include the supply chain; leaders in this space need to be able to verify that these policies are delivering.

Marketing claims must be vetted and aligned with regulations and markets where products are sold. Procurement, supply chain and communication, and external partners such as NGOs and consumer associations are important groups to involve in risk profiling and ongoing management. While managing emerging issues and horizon scanning is critical, it is also important to remain vigilant on the basics, as most food safety and allergen incidents are known risks.

Detecting Food Fraud

Opportunistic food fraud cases are rising in the high food inflation market, with recent examples including everything from adulterated honey to the mislabeling of beef. To deter food fraud, businesses need to focus on risk-based auditing and testing through sampling programs. Knowing your supply chain, shopping around safely, being vigilant about ingredients and specifications, utilizing training, and building awareness and readiness are imperative to deter food fraud and create a culture of confidence and greater food safety.

Think Differently About Managing Risk

Now is the time for the food industry to reassess its approach to managing risk. A risk-based approach focusing on prevention, continuous improvement, and stakeholder collaboration is necessary to ensure a safe and secure food supply chain in an increasingly complex and challenging environment. The industry must prioritize data accessibility and accuracy, have a crisis management plan, be aware of emerging legislation, and include ESG policies in its risk management strategies. By focusing on risk-based auditing and testing, the industry can deter food fraud and create a culture of confidence.

The probability of eliminating all risks is very low, so the food industry must pivot and be agile to challenge the traditional approaches to managing food safety. It is time to think differently about managing risk and adopt new practices that promote prevention and collaboration.

Matthew Taylor

Mitigating the Risks of Food Fraud in an Inflationary Environment

By Matthew Taylor
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Matthew Taylor

Inflation can create a challenging environment for the food industry, making it more difficult to maintain product quality, safety, and transparency. In August 2022, U.S. food inflation hit a 40-year high of 11.4% and has since remained persistently high, at 10.1% in January 2023. Manufacturers and suppliers must stay vigilant and take proactive steps to mitigate the risks posed by stubbornly high food inflation and increasingly complex supply chains.

Inflation can be a catalyst for risk in food supply chains for several reasons. Rising prices could encourage bad actors or tempt manufacturers and suppliers to cut corners or compromise quality to maintain profit margins. This can lead to an increased risk of food fraud, where lower-quality or counterfeit ingredients are substituted for genuine ones or where mislabeled products are sold to unsuspecting consumers. Supply chain disruptions could increasingly affect manufacturers as suppliers struggle to manage the increased costs of raw materials, transportation, and labor, as seen this winter in Europe, with the UK experiencing shortages of tomatoes and eggs. This can result in delays, shortages, and other logistical challenges that can make it difficult to maintain product quality and safety.

Inflation can also increase food allergy and sensitivity incidents. Mislabeling or allergen contamination due to substituted alternative ingredients could put allergen or intolerance sufferers at greater risk, as well as your brand. With the threat of food fraud lurking in increasingly complex and volatile supply chains, what steps can food manufacturers take to protect themselves and their customers?

Tackling Food Fraud and Allergen Incidents

Despite legislative and industry process improvements, food fraud continues to be a significant risk in the food industry, costing businesses an estimated $30 to $40 billion annually. Food fraud refers to any act of deception, intentional or otherwise, that is intended to result in the sale of a food product that is not what it purports to be. This can take many forms, from adulterating ingredients to misbranding and counterfeiting.

The consequences of food fraud can be severe and include economic losses, harm to human health, damage to the reputation of food companies and loss of consumer confidence in the food supply. Food fraud can also cause environmental consequences, including the illegal use of pesticides, or overfishing, which can have long-term effects on the environment, wildlife, and ecosystems.

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In recent years, several high-profile cases of food fraud have occurred, including the widespread contamination of infant formula with melamine in China and the horse meat scandal in Europe. These incidents have highlighted the need for better measures to prevent food fraud and to ensure the safety of the food supply.

To protect the integrity and bolster consumer and producer confidence in organic food, which has long been a target of food fraud, the USDA published one of the largest-ever reforms to their organic program in January 2023. However, many risks remain as legislation tries to catch and close loopholes.

One of the challenges of preventing food fraud is that the supply chain is often complex and global, making it difficult to track the origin of ingredients and monitor their quality. In addition, many food frauds are not detected until they reach the end-consumer, making it difficult to recall contaminated products. In order to mitigate the risk of food fraud, it is essential to plan ahead and implement strong supply chain management practices, including the use of technology such as traceability systems and predictive analytics.

A good starting point to mitigate your risk of food fraud is to conduct a deep dive into your highest-risk raw materials and suppliers instead of trying to tackle everything at once, particularly if you have a large number of raw materials to assess. For instance, you may want to prioritize raw materials that have been linked to recent fraud incidents, such as infant formula, honey, and olive oil.

Four Steps to Protecting Your Business

Know your supply chain. Controlling and understanding your supply chain is essential for minimizing risk. It is important to audit your supply chain back to the field, if possible, or at least to the production and processing facility. For smaller businesses, forensic auditing may not be feasible. However, there are still steps they can take to protect themselves, such as seeking third-party certification programs that verify the sustainability, quality, and ethical sourcing of ingredients. Going back by more than one step in your supply chain is crucial, and conducting a vulnerability assessment of your raw materials and suppliers is an excellent starting point.

Shop around safely. Review the market for potential alternate suppliers or less ‘at risk’ ingredients, subject to the required quality checks and labeling requirements. It is crucial to thoroughly assess current and potential new suppliers and ensure they meet the minimum Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) certification standards, wherever possible. Scrutinize all raw material specifications, including the country of origin, as countries with less established food safety regulations may pose a higher risk. Establishing solid relationships with your suppliers and engaging in regular communication with them is also essential to maintain a high standard of quality, safety, and sustainability.

Be vigilant about ingredients. Markets are constantly evolving, and economic, social, and environmental changes can impact the substitution risk profile of any ingredient that you purchase. To manage this risk, it is essential to have an up-to-date awareness of the various market forces that affect ingredients and their availability.

It is important to note that product adulteration may not always be motivated by economic factors. As ingredients become in short supply, manufacturers may make local substitution decisions to keep the supply available. Remember, there is no substitute for a thorough risk-assessed approach to managing this challenge with a complete and detailed understanding of your supply chains.

Utilize training to build awareness and readiness. Training employees on how to identify, prevent and respond to incidents of potential food fraud or allergens is essential but often challenging for food manufacturers. Regular training should include the types of fraud, how to recognize suspicious behavior, and the importance of accurate record-keeping. Ensuring your teams are trained on what to do is there is a food fraud issue is also key, as is testing the teams through mock exercises to see how they would manage a food fraud event in the business.

Persistently high food inflation rates have created a challenging environment for the food industry, making it harder for manufacturers and suppliers to maintain product quality, safety, and transparency. Food businesses must exercise extra vigilance to face an increased risk of food fraud, supply chain disruptions, and an increase in food allergy and sensitivity incidents. Now is the time to proactively mitigate these risks by prioritizing transparency, gaining control and understanding of supply chains, and acting to prevent food fraud.

It is important to note that no system is foolproof. Food manufacturers should regularly assess and improve their supply chain management practices to ensure they are up to date with industry best practices and changing threats. Increasing your transparency in the ingredient supply chain requires a commitment to responsible sourcing and a willingness to invest in traceability, certification, and supplier relationships. While the risks to food quality and safety are well known, businesses need to ask themselves the right questions and take the necessary steps to protect themselves and their customers. By doing so, they can protect their brand reputation and consumer confidence in the food supply and the environment.

 

Karen Constable
Food Fraud Quick Bites

No Horsing Around

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Karen Constable

You may remember the horse meat scandal of 2013, which involved the recall of at least 10 million products[i] and prompted a new era of awareness of food fraud risks among the international food safety community. In that scandal, horse meat was being used to replace beef.

Despite the widespread publicity received by the horse meat scandal, similar frauds have happened since 2013. For example, in 2021, six people were arrested in Brazil and accused of stealing horses, then selling their meat “disguised” as beef.[ii] Authorities said that up to 60% of restaurants in the area had unknowingly purchased the fraudulent “beef.”

Horse meat is not only used by criminals to replace beef. In regions where horse meat is regularly consumed, such as in many parts of Europe, the ingredient itself is vulnerable to food fraud. Fraud occurs when horses that are not safe to eat are used for human food.

Veterinary drugs, including pain killers and horse worming treatments, can render horsemeat unsafe and make the horse unsuitable for food. Horse passports are used to keep records of veterinary drug treatments and show whether a horse has been ‘signed out’ of the human food chain.[iii]

In September 2022, authorities in the Netherlands discovered incorrect passports for slaughtered horses in the human food supply chain.[iv] The food originated in the Netherlands and was distributed to Belgium, France, Germany and Italy.

Horse meat fraud is attractive to criminals because it offers good profits. There is an abundant supply of horses from the equine racing and recreational horse industries. Unwanted horses are expensive to keep, so they are sold at very low prices or even given away for free. Operations that process cheap or free horses for food can be very profitable.

Food fraud perpetrators who wish to use unsuitable horses for human food must therefore falsify horse passports and other documents to make the horse meat appear legitimate, or use clandestine slaughterhouses and sell the meat through illegitimate supply chains.

There have been 11 notifications of problems with horse passports in Europe since January 2020 reported in the European Commission’s Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF). These include “Incorrect passports of slaughtered horses”; “Poor traceability records (forged passports) for horse from the Netherlands”; “Horse without medicine pages in the passport”; “Horsemeat from an animal excluded from the food chain” and “Incorrect registration information on horse carcasses.” In 2017, a veterinary drug banned in Europe was found in horse meat imported from Brazil.[v]

Authorities in Spain and Belgium recently smashed a criminal network that was profiting from horse meat fraud and that involved illegal slaughter and falsification of documents. Forty-one people were arrested over their links to the operation. The alleged perpetrators are accused of obtaining horses that were not fit for human consumption, slaughtering them in clandestine operations and falsifying documents to make the resulting meat appear to be legal and safe. The network is believed to have been operating since 2019 and may have netted the criminals more than EUR 1.5 million.[vi] One commentator estimated that a horse obtained for less than EUR 100 was worth EUR 1500 after illegal processing and falsification of its legal status.[vii]

 

References:

[i] Writer, S. (2013). Living to tell the tail: how and why Australia survived the horse meat scandal. [online] Food & Beverage Industry News. Available at: https://www.foodmag.com.au/living-to-tell-the-tail-how-and-why-australia-survived-the-horse-meat-scandal/ [Accessed 8 Dec. 2022].

[ii] Hallam, A.R., Jonny (2021). Gang sold tons of horse disguised as beef and put rotting meat in hamburgers, Brazilian officials say. [online] CNN. Available at: https://edition.cnn.com/2021/11/19/americas/brazil-horse-meat-gang-intl-hnk-scli/index.html [Accessed 8 Dec. 2022].

[iii] www.businesscompanion.info. (n.d.). Horse passports | Business Companion. [online] Available at: https://www.businesscompanion.info/en/quick-guides/animals-and-agriculture/horse-passports [Accessed 8 Dec. 2022].

[iv] webgate.ec.europa.eu. (n.d.). RASFF WINDOW. [online] Available at: https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/rasff-window/screen/notification/569545 [Accessed 8 Dec. 2022].

[v] foodnavigator.com (n.d.). Belgium horsemeat call after drug found in Brazilian imports. [online] foodnavigator.com. Available at: https://www.foodnavigator.com/Article/2017/01/19/Belgium-horsemeat-call-after-drug-found-in-Brazilian-imports [Accessed 8 Dec. 2022].

[vi] Europol. (n.d.). 41 arrests for selling potentially dangerous horse meat. [online] Available at: https://www.europol.europa.eu/media-press/newsroom/news/41-arrests-for-selling-potentially-dangerous-horse-meat [Accessed 8 Dec. 2022].

[vii] Desk, N. (2022). Europol and Spain lead horse meat fraud investigation. [online] Food Safety News. Available at: https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2022/12/europol-and-spain-lead-horse-meat-fraud-investigation/ [Accessed 8 Dec. 2022].

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