Food Fraud: Identifying Risks with Digital Tools

Food fraud, or economically motivated adulteration, is defined as the intentional misrepresentation of food products for economic gain (1). As the food supply chain grows increasingly complex, the potential for fraudulent activities escalates.

Our video clip below reviews how digital tools can enhance and streamline food fraud risk assessments, featuring FoodChain ID’s Karen Everstine, PhD, MPH, Technical Services Director, Food Safety Solutions.

Want to learn more? Click here to view the full webinar.

Defining Food Fraud

Food fraud (economically motivated adulteration) can take many forms, including substitution or dilution, mislabeling, adding undeclared colors, and the use of non-food grade substances (2). Fraudulent practices not only deceive consumers but also undermine food safety and quality. Additionally, the economic impact of food fraud is substantial. The average cost of a product recall can be around $10 million, and larger recalls can cost over $100 million (3). The Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Preventive Controls Rule requires the identification of “reasonably foreseeable” food safety hazards in the supply chain, including those arising from economically motivated adulteration (4). The Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) certification programs specifically require a food fraud vulnerability assessment to identify potential vulnerabilities, highlighting the importance of food fraud risk mitigation (5).

External Data Sources for Risk Evaluation

A holistic approach to risk assessment involves an interplay between baseline risks and vulnerabilities and current and emerging risks and vulnerabilities. Evaluating food fraud risks requires data from various external sources, including scientific literature, media reports, regulatory reports, and other relevant publications. By tapping into these external data sources, companies can gain a broader and more nuanced understanding of potential food fraud risks.

The Role of Comprehensive Data

Regulatory alerts are instrumental in identifying potential risks, but they are not sufficient on their own. This is because food fraud is intentional and designed to evade detection. Comprehensive databases, such as FoodChain ID’s Food Fraud Database, are pivotal tools to assess food fraud vulnerabilities. The Food Fraud Database tracks incidents of food fraud, market sampling, scientific literature on fraud detection methods and other risk data from the public domain. Integrating these varied sources provides food safety professionals with a single, trusted source of comprehensive data. Powerful data analytics tools within the system streamline food fraud risk assessments, and customizable alerts notify subscribers of new risks that may impact their products.

Benefits of the Food Fraud Database

Ingredient Groups: Users can build and customize lists of raw materials from the list of more than 5,700 ingredients currently in the Food Fraud Database
Custom Data Exports and Alerts: Ingredient groups can be used to search, create custom data exports, and receive weekly notifications
Holistic Food Fraud Intelligence: The Food Fraud Database goes beyond regulatory alerts to provide insights on food fraud risks from the scientific literature, media reports, and other public sources
Data Analytics: User-friendly tables, charts, and heat maps provide visual tools for understanding potential food fraud risks
Supports Compliance: The Food Fraud Database provides targeted support for compliance with the economically motivated adulteration requirements of the FSMA Preventive Controls Rule and the GFSI Certification Program food fraud vulnerability assessment requirements

FoodChain ID provides digital solutions, expertise and certifications to support compliance with food safety requirements:

Ingredient Risk Identification by HorizonScan: Daily supply chain monitoring for ingredients and supplier threats
Food Fraud Database: Identification of food fraud risks to directly support vulnerability assessments
Consulting: Food safety and risk assessment, Scientific and Regulatory Affairs (SARA) and Expertise as a Service (EaaS)
Accredited Food Safety Certifications: BRCGS, SQF, FSSC 22000, IFS and GLOBALG.A.P.

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