News
03.04.2018 - Foods
Cases of food fraud (Food-Fraud) in the EU Commission's portal
In recent years, food fraud has become a central issue. Preventing fraud and demanding authentic products is important to ensure the commercial success of European high-quality agricultural and food products in international markets.
For this reason, the European Commission established a research unit called the "Joint Research Center" (JRC).
This research unit is a scientific service. To support health and consumer protection, the JRC researches the authenticity and quality of food. In this context, the JRC compiles monthly reports from all available media on cases of food adulteration or food fraud worldwide on its internet platform.
The reports are intended to complement the German portal "Lebensmittelklarheit" by providing information on international deceptions and fraud cases important for global trade. Agricultural products with high commercial value are traditionally targets for fraudulent practices.
In 2017, over 135 fraud cases were uncovered. The leaders were Italy, France, and Spain. Notable issues were the lack of labeling or labeling of false origin. This makes traceability impossible.
For example, the following products are affected:
- Meat and sausage products: Addition of other animal species than declared
- Dairy products: Admixture of cow's milk in buffalo mozzarella; addition of water and vegetable fat in milk
- Olive oil: Adulteration by using cheaper vegetable oils such as sunflower oil; labeled as "extra virgin" on non-cold-pressed oils
- Herbs/spices/tea: Adulteration by adding sugar, dyes, or other plant parts such as olive tree leaves in oregano
- Wine: Admixture of wine of lesser valuable origin; addition of sugar, methanol, or alcohol
Our laboratories in the Tentamus Group are extensively involved in uncovering food fraud and can detect adulterations in many different products.
For any questions, our customer advisors are happy to assist you.
Source: European Commission: Food authenticity and quality