16. Fraud

Who commits fraud?

• Largely small and medium companies restaurants/catering

• Farmers

• Large companies

• Multinationals - they have a much bigger problem

Top half of line are victims and bottom half are fraudsters

Perception from consumers is actually that small companies are less likely to commit fraud, but this is not true clearly

For multinationals, there are serious consequences if they commit fraud and are caught so they don’t do it.

Adulterant definition

A term for a substance found within other substances such as food, even though it is not allowed for legal or other reasons

Food fraud definition

Cases where there is a violation of food law, which is committed intentionally to pursue an economic, financial or other gain through consumer deception

Adulteration vs. fraud

Adulteration can be non-intentional (accident), fraud is always intentional

Food integrity

Ensuring that food which is offered for sale or sold is not only safe and of the nature, substance and quality expected by the purchaser but also captures other aspects of food production, such as the way it has been sources, procured and distributed and being honest abou those elements to consumers.

Food crime

Incidents involving food that is a violation of a criminal statute

Food terrorism

Food adulterated with an ideological rather than an economic intention, with as primary goal to scare the consumer

Is all fraud detected?

Most common fraudulent products

1. Olive oil

2. Meat

3. Honey

4. Saffron (very expensive - therefore likely to have replicates)

5. Orange juice

6. Coffee

7. etc

Fraud with honey

• Even markets and local shops contain fraudulent honey

• Increased risk of fraud due to hypes as Manuka honey and raw honey—there is more manuka honey in the EU than can be produced

How fraud with honey occurs

• Added sugar

• Added high fructose corn syrup

• Completely artificial

• Country of origin

• Flower species of origin

• Organic/non-organic

Olive oil and fraud

• Every week there are fraud notifications about olive oil

• Often diluted with sunflower oil

Meat and fraud (filet americain)

• Filet americain: contained pork which cannot be sold raw

• From the supermarket, it was completely beef but butchers sometimes had filet americain containing 30-40% raw pork meat

Meat and fraud (lamb)

• One in five lamb takeaways contained other cheaper meats such as turkey

• Some contained no lamb at all

Meat and fraud (halal)

Halal products containing pork meat were ofund

Food Fraud: meat

• Replace ‘expensive’ meat with cheap meat

  • Replace lamb with turkey/chicken

  • Replace beef with horse meat or pork

  • Replace steak with cheaper parts of the animal

• Adding volume to the meat

  • Add water to chicken breasts

  • Add glycerin to meat cuts

• Combine pieces of meat (glue)

• Country of origin or other labels (organic, halal, animal welfare..)

• Reuse of out-of-date meat

Horsemeat scandal

• Was found in 2013 but probably going on for many years

• Nobody tasted the difference

• Still happening, cases in spain early 2023

Why horsemeat is a problem

• There is nothing wrong with horsemeat - people just are not used to eating it anymore

• However, in the scandal, the slaughtering was not being checked as it was not on the radar of the EU for example

• Therefore might be bad quality/not safe

Wine fraud

• Labels are always stuck on wine bottles really tightly to prevent them from being taken off.

Differences in fraud then and now

Then:

• Wide variety of frauds

• Use of (very) toxic materials

Around 1900 in the Netherlands, the start of food inspection services on municipal/city level

Food inspection service in 1900

• Farmers delivered meat in local slaughterhouses

• Meat from sick animals was slaughtered separately

• Separated meat was send to Rotterdam (cheap)

• In Rotterdam the meat was made into processed meat or sold on the markets

• ‘Well organized structure’ to get rid of contaminated meat

• Food inspection service was set up around 1905 in Rotterdam specifically for meat: problem: lack of laboratory space and knowledge

• Sick meat was now send to Vlaardingen or Dordrecht, as there was no food inspection there

• Similar: in Leeuwarden proper marmalade was sold, whereas in neighbouring towns only fake products were sold

Major European scandals

Why is food fraud increasing (again)?

• Complex food chains, food comes from everywhere and is processed everywhere

• Challenging economic times

• Long-term fraud:

  • Does not seem to affect the perceived quality of the product

  • Consumers do not know what the original food tastes/looks like

  • Consumers are more focused on price

• Hypes and trends (social media!!)

• More education to consumers does not help? you cant taste the different

Food fraud: dilution

Food fraud: counterfeiting

Food fraud: unapproved enhancements

Chinese milk scandal unapproved enhancements

Grey market production

Food fraud: mislabelling

Food fraud: concealment

Food fraud: substitution

Prevention, detecting and management of fraud

Very difficult:

• No standards

• Can happen everywhere

  • Supply chain

  • Production

  • After production

• Learn from old cases

• Spot trends

• Detection very difficult and expensive

• Prevention is better

Parameters or origin to detect fraud

Chemical markers

• (plant) origin (colors, aroma)

• Source (soil elements)

• Processing parameters (heating)

• Genetics (DNA)

Physical markers

• Color

• Dispersion and other physical methods