A study on adulteration in cereals and bakery products from Poland including a review of definitions

Food fraud prevention strategies: Building an effective verification ecosystem

Food fraud is an ever-present threat that regulators, food business operators (FBOs), and consumers need to be aware of, prevent where possible, and address by developing mitigation strategies to detect and reduce its negative consequences. While extant literature focuses on food fraud detection, there is less attention given to prevention strategies, a knowledge gap this review seeks to address. The aim of this review was to consider food-related fraud prevention initiatives, understand what has worked well, and develop a series of recommendations on preventing food fraud, both policy related and for future research. Reactive (including intelligence based) food fraud detection dominates over prevention strategies, especially where financial, knowledge, and time resources are scarce. First-generation tools have been developed for food fraud vulnerability assessment, risk analysis, and development of food fraud prevention strategies. However, examples of integrated food control management systems at FBO, supply chain, and regulatory levels for prevention are limited. The lack of hybrid (public/private) integration of food fraud prevention strategies, as well as an effective verification ecosystem, weakens existing food fraud prevention plans. While there are several emergent practice models for food fraud prevention, they need to be strengthened to focus more specifically on capable guardians and target hardening. This work has implications for policymakers, Official Controls bodies, the food industry, and ultimately consumers who seek to consistently purchase food that is safe, legal, and authentic.

Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices of the Lebanese Community toward Food Adulteration

Food adulteration is the purposeful act of decreasing the quality of food goods offered for sale, whether by adding or replacing inferior substances or by the removal of some valuable ingredient. A limited number of studies have explored the knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAPs) concerning food adulteration in Lebanon. The objectives of the present study were to determine the knowledge, attitudes and practices of identifying adulteration in the process of food purchase by Lebanese adult consumers, and to identify factors associated with food adulteration. An online survey (n = 499) was administered among Lebanese adults aged 18 years and above. Results showed that the majority had a low food adulteration knowledge score (73.1%). During shopping, fewer than half of the participants checked the ingredients (42%) and nutrition facts label (33.9%). Regression analyses showed that six predictors were significantly associated with participants’ knowledge scores including gender, age, marital status, education (undergraduate and master degree) and employment status (student). The results of this study show that knowledge and practices of identifying adulteration in the process of food purchase by consumers are lacking among most respondents. Increasing knowledge, awareness and motivation to identify food adulteration products during food shopping will empower consumers to improve buying practices, especially for the public with a lower level of education.

A Bayesian Approach to Predict Food Fraud Type and Point of Adulteration

Primary and secondary food processing had been identified as areas vulnerable to fraud. Besides the food processing area, other stages within the food supply chain are also vulnerable to fraud. This study aims to develop a Bayesian network (BN) model to predict food fraud type and point of adulteration i.e., the occurrence of fraudulent activity. The BN model was developed using GeNie Modeler (BayesFusion, LLC) based on 715 notifications (1979-2018) from Food Adulteration Incidents Registry (FAIR) database. Types of food fraud were linked to six explanatory variables such as food categories, year, adulterants (chemicals, ingredients, non-food, microbiological, physical, and others), reporting country, point of adulteration, and point of detection. The BN model was validated using 80 notifications from 2019 to determine the predictive accuracy of food fraud type and point of adulteration. Mislabelling (20.7%), artificial enhancement (17.2%), and substitution (16.4%) were the most commonly reported types of fraud. Beverages (21.4%), dairy (14.3%), and meat (14.0%) received the highest fraud notifications. Adulterants such as chemicals (21.7%) (e.g., formaldehyde, methanol, bleaching agent) and cheaper, expired or rotten ingredients (13.7%) were often used to adulterate food. Manufacturing (63.9%) was identified as the main point of adulteration followed by the retailer (13.4%) and distribution (9.9%).

Food Safety Governance and Guardianship: The Role of the Private Sector in Addressing the EU Ethylene Oxide Incident

Sesame seeds within the European Union (EU) are classified as foods not of animal origin. Two food safety issues associated with sesame seeds have emerged in recent years, i.e., Salmonella contamination and the presence of ethylene oxide. Fumigation with ethylene oxide to reduce Salmonella in seeds and spices is not approved in the EU, so its presence in sesame seeds from India was a sentinel incident sparking multiple trans-European product recalls between 2020-2021. Following an interpretivist approach, this study utilises academic and grey sources including data from the EU Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) database to inform a critical appraisal of current EU foods not of animal origin legislation and associated governance structures and surveillance programs. This is of particular importance as consumers are encouraged towards plant-based diets. This study shows the importance of collaborative governance utilizing data from company testing and audits as well as official regulatory controls to define the depth and breadth of a given incident in Europe. The development of reflexive governance supported by the newest technology (e.g., blockchain) might be of value in public-private models of food safety governance. This study contributes to the literature on the adoption of risk-based food safety regulation and the associated hybrid public-private models of food safety governance where both regulators and private organizations play a vital role in assuring public health.

Considering Fraud Vulnerability Associated with Credence-Based Products Such as Organic Food

Organic foods carry a premium price. They are credence-based foods, i.e., it is difficult for consumers to evaluate the premium aspects of organic food under normal use. In global supply chains, organic food is purchased on institutional trust (certification, logos, standards) rather than on relational trust. Relying on institutional trust makes consumers vulnerable to criminals who intentionally label conventional product as organic or develop sophisticated organized crime networks to defraud businesses and consumers. The aim of this research is to explore cases of organic fraud that are emergent from academic and gray literature searches to identify ways to strengthen future capabilities to counter illicit activities in a globalized food environment. Each case is considered in terms of perpetrator motivations (differentiated as economic, cultural, and behaviorally orientated drivers), the mode of operation (simple or organized), the guardians involved/absent, and the business and supply chain level vulnerabilities the cases highlight. The study finds that institutional trust is particularly vulnerable to fraud. Supply chain guardians need to recognize this vulnerability and implement effective controls to reduce the likelihood of occurrence. However, in some cases considered in the study, the guardians themselves were complicit in the illicit behavior, further increasing consumer vulnerability. Future research needs to consider how additional controls can be implemented, without increasing supply chain friction that will impact on food trade and supply, that can ensure consumers are purchasing what they believe they are paying for.

Application of blockchain technology in food safety control：current trends and future prospects

Blockchain technology is a distributed ledger technology and is expected to face some difficulties and challenges in various industries due to its transparency, decentralization, tamper-proof nature, and encryption security. Food safety has been paid increasing attention in recent years with economic development. Based on a systematic literature critical analysis, the causes of food safety problems and the state-of-the-art blockchain technology overview, including the definition of blockchain, development history, classification, structure, characteristics, and main applications, the feasibility and application prospects of blockchain technology in plant food safety, animal food safety, and processed food safety were proposed in this review. Finally, the challenges of the blockchain technology itself and the difficulties in the application of food safety were analyzed. This study contributes to the extant literature in the field of food safety by discovering the excellent potential of blockchain technology and its implications for food safety control. Our results indicated that blockchain is a promising technology toward a food safety control, with many ongoing initiatives in food products, but many food-related issues, barriers, and challenges still exist. Nevertheless, it is expected to provide a feasible solution for controlling food safety risks.

Using the rapid alert system for food and feed: potential benefits and problems on data interpretation

The Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF), where competent authorities in each Member State (MS) submit notifications on the withdrawal of unsafe or illegal products from the market, makes a significant contribution to food safety control in the European Union. The aim of this paper is to frame the potential challenges of interpreting and then acting upon the dataset contained within the RASFF system. As it is largest cause of RASFF notifications, the lens of enquiry used is mycotoxin contamination. The methodological approach is to firstly iteratively review existing literature to frame the problem, and then to interrogate the RASFF system and analyze the data available. Findings are that caution should be exercised in using the RASFF database both as a predictive tool and for trend analysis, because iterative changes in food law impact on the frequency of regulatory sampling associated with border and inland regulatory checks. The study highlights the variability of engagement by MSs with the RASFF database, influencing generalisability of the trends noted. As importing countries raise market standards, there are wider food safety implications for the exporting countries themselves. As this is one of the first studies articulating the complexities and opportunities of using the RASFF database, this research makes a strong contribution to literature.

Food hazards on the European Union market: The data analysis of the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed

The aim of the study was to examine similarities in notifications on main hazards within food reported in the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) in 1979-2017. The main problems were mycotoxins in nuts, pathogenic microorganisms in poultry meat and fish, pesticide residues in fruits and vegetables, and heavy metals in fish. The increase in the number of notifications has been observed since 2002/2003. Products were notified mainly by Italy, Germany, and United Kingdom and originated from Asian and European Union countries. The notification basis was border control and official control, and the notification type was border rejections, information, and alerts. Notified products were not distributed and not placed on the market, distribution status could be also not specified, or distribution was possible, also to other countries. The risk decision on hazard was usually not made. Products were redispatched, withdrawn from the market, and destroyed, or import was not authorized. Remarks, which can be used to improve the RASFF database, were also presented. It was further pointed out that European law should significantly reduce the use of pesticides, drugs, and food additives, and European agriculture should be reoriented from an intensive farming to a more sustainable and ecological one.