We talked about food fraud in our text dated May 18, 2020, where the concept of food fraud, its history, as well as ways to monitor food counterfeiting were explained.
We return to this topic again for the reason that despite all the (very well thought out) measures to suppress fraudulent activities, their number continues to increase, but also, in addition to traditionally (historically) sensitive products to fraud, products that were not previously very interesting to individuals who want to gain economic benefit in this way.
FOOD FRAUD – BASIC TERMS
Before we move on to the overview of new trends, here is a brief reminder of the basic terms related to this topic.
What is food fraud? GFSI defines food fraud as: “Food fraud, including subcategories of economically motivated fraud, is a growing problem.” It is the deception of consumers by using food products, ingredients and packaging for economic gain and includes substitution, unauthorized enhancements, mislabeling, counterfeiting, stolen goods, etc. (GFSI, 2014)
What types of counterfeiting are there?
- REPLACEMENT: Full or partial: replacement of a higher quality (more expensive) ingredient with a lower quality (cheaper) one (or alternative types – in the case of meat and fish).
- INADEQUATE DECLARATION: more types of this type of falsification; most often it refers to the inadequate representation of the production process, the country of origin or the amount of basic ingredients.
- CONCEALMENT: The process of concealing the low quality of ingredients or finished product
- GRAY ZONE (theft, diversion): sale of excess undeclared product / product assigned to, for example, the American market and sold in Korea
- UNAPPROVED ENHANCEMENTS: The process of adding unapproved or unreported additives to products to improve their quality
- COUNTERFEIT: The process of copying the brand, packaging, recipes, methods of processing, etc.
- DILUTION: The process of mixing a liquid ingredient with liquids of lower value
FOOD FRAUD TRENDS DURING 2022
The following table shows the most interesting cases during 2022, by month, related to counterfeiting when it comes to food and beverages. It can be seen that when it comes to fraud, the leading food categories are still the most sensitive (such as dairy products, fish and fish products, drinks, spices) but rice, cereals, fruits and vegetables, sweets also appear.
The data was obtained from the monthly reports of the EU Commission, the brochure “Monthly Summary of Articles on Food Fraud and Adulteration”, which can be found on the website:
https://knowledge4policy.ec.europa.eu/publication/food-fraud-summary
Also used were brochures, monthly reports of IFS Gmbh: “IFS Trend Risk Report”, which can be found on the website: https://www.ifs-certification.com
The overview is made according to the IFS classification of product groups.
| Scope IFS | Overview of food fraud cases during 2022 |
| Red and white meat, poultry and meat products | January: game meat (e.g bats and monkeys): smuggling-USA; frozen meat: smuggling-Hong Kong; pork, poultry and ruminants: smuggling – USA, Italy; February: meat products: unmarked country of origin-Italy; gray market-China; sale of horsemeat from animals suffering from cancer – Spain; March: lamb meat replaced by beef or chicken-UK April: chicken meat: improper declaration, unapproved additives, added water-France; buffalo meat presented as another type of meat-Malaysia; expired goods found in supermarkets and restaurants-Egypt June: Donkey and horsemeat not intended for human consumption – Belgium; illegal slaughter-India; mixing mechanically separated meat into poultry sausages – Germany July: cattle from the farm without ear tags – Italy; chickens and piglets receiving growth control drugs-Uganda August: Seized beef not fit for consumption since 2015-India October: frozen buffalo meat without Halal documentation-Malaysia December: adulterated horsemeat and horsemeat unfit for human consumption-Spain |
| Fish and fish products | January: Fish and fish products improperly declared-Singapore; smuggled fish-India February: Fish and fish products: gray market-Bolivia; expired seafood: Italy; other types of fish declared as salmon-Thailand; March: frozen seafood: gray market-China; seafood: illegal catch: Italy; illegal fishing, including protected species – France; April: fish: gray market-Italy, Mexico; fish contaminated with chemical contaminants-India May: EU eel meat processed in China, then presented in the USA as “American”-USA June: Shells with false packing date-Italy July: Bluefin tuna without traceability-Italy September: seafood declared as more expensive species-Brazil; illegally caught fish and seafood-Oman November: tuna: counterfeiting of a famous brand – Italy December: fish caught illegally; expired seafood-Italy |
| Egg and egg products | February: Rotten eggs used for baking-Pakistan; March: chicken eggs without traceability – Italy; April: lack of batch number data-Portugal September: expired eggs-Pakistan; October: gray market-Peru |
| Dairy products | January: cheese: brand counterfeiting-Paraguay; milk with added water and detergents-Pakistan; February: milk: with added water and detergents-Pakistan; butter with undeclared fats (added vegetable oils) – Ukraine; cheese: gray market: Paraguay; water added to milk-Italy; cheese unfit for human consumption-Costa Rica; March: Milk with additional binders and detergents-Pakistan; inadequate labeling of allergens on milk formulas for babies – China and Russia; April: counterfeit cheese-India; illegal sale of drugs to farmers to increase milk yield-Italy; ice creams with non-food colors-Pakistan May: milk with added detergents, water and other chemicals-Pakistan; ice cream produced with unsafe water-Pakistan June: milk mixed with various chemicals-Pakistan July: milk with added polluted water and other chemicals-Pakistan; replacing whole milk with whey – Colombia August: milk with added sulfates and other chemicals-India October: milk with added water and detergents-Pakistan November: cheese without veterinary certificate-Costa Rica |
| Fruit and vegetables | January: Onions, potatoes, carrots, apples: gray market-Zimbabwe; oats misrepresented as organic: Italy March: smuggled tomatoes-Uruguay June: stolen fruit and vegetables-Spain August: falsely declared origin of fruits and vegetables-France November: tomatoes and peppers: gray market-Paraguay December: Onions declared as breadcrumbs-Philippines; |
| Grain products, cereals, industrial bakery and pastry, confectionary, snacks | January: Breakfast cereals: improper declaration-Mexico; Nuts: adulteration-Bolivia; pasta-declared other type of grain than used: Italy; February: rice: gray market-India; corn grain: gray market-Argentina; fake honey-Pakistan; rice: gray market-Namibia; baby food: presence of heavy metals-USA; rice: plastic particles-UK March: smuggled rice from Senegal-Mauritania April: Rice: gray market-India; soybeans in grain: gray market-Argentina; wheat; gray market-Pakistan; sweets containing cannabis-UK May: rice: gray market-India; wheat: smuggling-Pakistan; wheat: gray market-Italy June: Brown sugar with non-food chemicals and dyes-Pakistan; rice, pasta and couscous with an expiration date of 3 years – Italy July: fake honey-production in illegal facilities-Brazil; soy with added sand – Brazil; August: rice with a false expiration date-Angola September: false plant origin of honey-Hungary; jagerry (non-centrifugal cane sugar)-replaced with sugar, lime, color product-Bangladesh October: fake honey (sugars, chemicals and wax)-Pakistan; honey with added sugar syrup, GMO ingredients, pesticide residues – Germany November: Candy: Counterfeit Famous Brands-USA; rice: forgery of the famous Brenda-India December: jagerry (non-centrifugal cane sugar)-replaced by sugar product, with added chemicals and non-food colors-Pakistan; undeclared medu-US additions; Christmas sweets obtained in the industry and declared as “artisanal” – Italy |
| Combined products | |
| Beverages | January: alcoholic beverages: brand counterfeiting from Colombia, Pakistan, India; wine: brand counterfeiting and the gray market from Afghanistan; wine brand counterfeiting-Paraguay; vodka with methanol – Russia February: Wine: adulteration-Italy; whisky: gray market-India; declared wrong country of origin – Italy; March: wine with prohibited additives false declaration: Spain; beer, vodka, whiskey: smuggling-India; non-alcoholic beverages: expiration date-Peru; April: smuggling of alcoholic beverages-Cyprus; Italy; France; soft drinks with added water and unsafe substances-Pakistan; May: Alcoholic beverages with unsafe chemicals-Pakistan; at least 8 people died after consuming home-made alcoholic drink-Pakistan; 3 people died after consuming illegal liquor-India July: canned beer: gray market-Bolivia; fake alcohol factory with fake labels-India; alcoholic beverages with counterfeit labels of well-known brands-Italy; 21 teenagers died after consuming alcohol with methanol-South Africa; August: At least 12 people died after consuming counterfeit liquor-India; closed 4 factories that produced fake fruit juices with illegal additives-Brazil; at least 17 people died after consuming gin with methanol-Uganda September: water and sugar added to the wine – Italy; 19 people died after consuming counterfeit alcohol-Morocco October: at least 75 people died after consuming counterfeit alcohol-Peru; found wine ready for counterfeiting (as a product of expensive brands) – Italy; 20 people died after consuming alcohol replaced with methanol-Ecuador November: 4 people died after consuming alcohol substituted with methanol-Turkey; alcoholic beverages with counterfeit labels of well-known brands-Mexico December: 44 people died after consuming alcohol replaced with methanol-Colombia; 88 people died by consuming questionable alcoholic beverages-India |
| Oils and fats | February: Olive oil: extra virgin contains only virgin: Switzerland March: Olive oil without the necessary documentation for traceability – Italy; palm oil with prohibited substances-Ghana; April: production of fake olive oil that is actually vegetable oil-Spain; May: Olive oil: virgin declared as extra virgin-Italy July: 72% of samples of olive oil imported from EU countries to China have problems with oxidation or mixing with other vegetable oils-China; August: olive oil replaced by other vegetable oils – France; counterfeiting oil of well-known brands-Argentina September: olive oil replaced by vegetable oil-Spain November: soybean oil and vegetable oils, declared as Olive-Brazil December: pomace oil declared as olive-Portugal |
| Dry goods, other ingredients and supplements | January: Spices (vanilla) – replacement with cheaper ones: France; Coffee – high moisture content and incorrect declaration: Brazil; dried fish and spices: fake origin: Italy; February: coffee: gray market-Albania; ood supplements: added flavorings to mask deficiencies-USA March: spices: expired-Pakistan; April: false saffron-Spain; spices with added clay, dust, husks – India; June: Bran and colors added to spices – Pakistan July: Spices with added oils and non-food colors-Pakistan; tea leaves with non-food coloring-Pakistan August: molasses replaced by sugar, semolina and colors, production in non-standard facilities-Bangladesh; fake tea leaves, obtained from bran, sugar and dyes-Pakistan September: fake tea leaves, made from bran, sugar and dyes-Pakistan November: Spices replaced by bran with added oil and colouring-Pakistan |
| Pet food | March: animal feed for cattle: smuggling-Algeria; pet food: undeclared shark meat: Singapore; |
