Food fraud: A real global threat
In recent years, we’ve seen different nations crack down on China’s adulterated, substandard or imitation food products, and this has served as a poignant example of what is going on worldwide. Food fraud is a global problem, stemming from multiple sources and not just China — and it is costing the world approximately $50 billion annually. But what constitutes food fraud, and just how much of a threat is it to people’s health worldwide?
What constitutes as food fraud?
The most widely accepted definition of food fraud comes from Dr. John Spink and Douglas Moyer’s published definition from 2011:
“Food fraud is a collective term used to encompass the deliberate and intentional substitution, addition, tampering, or misrepresentation of food, food ingredients, or food packaging; or false or misleading statements made about a product for economic gain.”
Let’s go through parts of this statement one by one. First, the deception or fraud has to be deliberate and intentional. While unintentional omittances and mistakes in food labeling and preparation may happen occasionally, it is doing these things with the intent of deception that counts as food fraud.
Next, food fraud involves the “substitution, addition, tampering or misrepresentation of food, food ingredients, or food packaging.” Examples of these activities are: replacing one product with a substandard product and selling them as the original; adding an ingredient that isn’t supposed to be added into a product or tampering their ingredients (for example, adding chalk powder in flour); mislabeling of food products so that allergens are not reflected, among others.
The second part of that statement says that food fraud also involves “false or misleading statements made about a product” — something that often happens with food supplements and other health products. Something that claims they have therapeutic claims even though they have not been tested still counts as food fraud.
Finally, an activity counts as food fraud if the final intention is to gain economically from it — that is, you deceitfully sell counterfeit, substandard or tampered food and food products in order to make money. The economic reasons vary — it could be because the suppliers want to keep selling through a shortage, or the substandard food products may be easier and cheaper to make, or they really just want to increase their profit — but at the end of the day, if it’s done for profit, it counts as food fraud.
How big of a problem is it?
The World Health Organization’s (WHO) fact sheet on food safety highlights food safety as a public health priority because foodborne illnesses affect hundreds of millions of people every year. According to the WHO, an estimated 600 million people worldwide — that’s 1 in 10 people — fall ill after eating contaminated food, and 420,000 people die each year. What’s worse is that children under 5 years old make up 40% of this figure, with 125,000 deaths each year. This is despite the fact that children under 5 only make up 9% of the total world population.
The WHO’s first global estimates of foodborne diseases, which came out in 2015, also states that while foodborne illnesses and food safety are global concerns, Africa and Southeast Asia have the highest incidences and highest death rates due to foodborne illnesses.
What steps have been taken against it?
Different countries have implemented their own set of laws and regulations to monitor, track and hold responsible institutions involved in the food system, from food suppliers down to retail sellers storing the food products. These regulatory committees and departments worldwide work closely with the WHO to create legislation and implement food safety procedures that meet international standards.
Technology is also being explored as a solution for tracking food sources accurately. There are paid systems available, but many of them do not have the access to information across the entire food production chain, or are just too expensive for regular consumers to use.
The latest technological development with promising use in combating food fraud is blockchain technology — wherein a digital distributed ledger is used to collect, store and make information available to producers, importers, exporters and consumers alike. Plus, each block of information is tamper-resistant, making it a secure, yet easier way to track food sources and hold fraudulent individuals and groups accountable.
To read more about how blockchain can be used in combating counterfeit products — click here to see how it can be used in the food industry and in the supply chain.
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