FQD-36306
Food Fraud & Mitigation
Period 5 – Wageningen University
Author: Bryan Schoenmaker
Content
Lecture 1 – Introduction to food fraud .................................................................................................. 1
Lecture 2 – Past, current, future of food fraud ...................................................................................... 3
Lecture 3 (Self-study) - Food fraud and legislation................................................................................ 5
Lecture 4 (Self-study) - Food fraud and safety....................................................................................... 7
Lecture 5 – Food fraud concept & opportunities................................................................................... 8
Lecture 6 – Motivations ........................................................................................................................ 10
Lecture 7 (Self-study) - Food fraud and criminology ........................................................................... 12
Lecture 8 (Self-study) – Dice test.......................................................................................................... 13
Lecture 9 – Technical controls .............................................................................................................. 14
Lecture 10 (Self-study) – Technical controls ........................................................................................ 19
Lecture 11 (Self-study) - Managerial controls...................................................................................... 21
Lecture 12 – Fraud vulnerability assessments ..................................................................................... 22
Lecture 13 – Fraud vulnerability of chains and tiers ........................................................................... 24
Lecture 14 (Self-study) - Impact of food fraud..................................................................................... 28
Lecture 15 – Saffron experiment .......................................................................................................... 29
Lecture 16 (Self-study) – Statistics in Food Fraud Detection.............................................................. 30
Lecture 17 (Self-study) – Chromatography and mass spectrometry ................................................. 31
Lecture 18 (Self-study) – Direct Mass Spectrometry ........................................................................... 34
Lecture 19 (Self-study) – Spectroscopy ................................................................................................ 36
Lecture 20 (Self-study) – Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry ............................................................... 39
Lecture 21 (Self-study) – Elemental analysis ....................................................................................... 41
Lecture 22 (Self-study) – Molecular analysis ....................................................................................... 43
Lecture 1 – Introduction to food fraud
March 14th 2022
Definition of fraud
• Fraud is dishonesty calculated for advantage
• Fraud is about deceiving others, doing it on purpose and doing it for personal gain
Food fraud – GFSI definition
, • 'Food fraud is a collective term encompassing the deliberate and intentional
substitution, addition, tampering, or misrepresentation of food, food ingredients or food
packaging, labeling, production information, or false or misleading statements made
about a product for economic gain that could impact consumer health
• GFSI = Global Food Safety Initiative
• There is currently no official EU term for food fraud
• If you happen to discover the food is not authentic, it does not necessarily mean it is
fraud
o You need the deliberate aspect before calling it fraud
Counterfeit
• A counterfeit is 100% fake
• Full copy of a certain product or brand
• Usually expensive, premium brands
• Sometimes organized crime involved
Part fakes (adulteration/mislabeling)
• The removal of fractions, ingredients or constituents of a food or food packaging
• Addition of replacements, 'enhancers' or concealers
o EXAMPLE: adding water
o EXAMPLE: adding colorants
• Mostly regular businesses in the chain
Examples of food fraud
• Adulteration: the action of making something poorer in quality by the addition of
another substance
o Species adulteration -> replacing beef with horse meat
• Adding water
• Illegal ingredients
• Recycling
To summarize: types of adulteration issues
• Historically:
, o Changing the composition of the food
• Nowadays:
o Provenance (geographical origin)
o Production system: organic, sustainable, animal welfare
▪ Mostly to do with labels and claims (keurmerken)
o Processing (fresh/defrosted meat)
o Expired foods
Lecture 2 – Past, current, future of food fraud
March 14th 2022
Changes in time
• Since the industrialization in the 19th century, food protection went from simple to
complex
• Distance between the producer and the consumer increased
• Food production:
o Foods from simple to complex
o More high value foods (spices)
o Distance between farmer and consumer increased
• Food adulteration:
o Food identity becomes harder to discover in complex foods
o More high value foods = more gains per kg
o Transparency in the chain has dramatically decreased
The food supply network
• Retail demands shape the global food market
• Price is the main governing feature
• Food and ingredients are sourced worldwide
• Extensive, fragile and vulnerable food supply chain
Estimates of food fraud -> difficult!
• Fraudsters do not report their crimes of course
• Individual regulatory bodies only have a snapshot of what is actually happening
Fraud reports
• Herbs, spices, olive oils, fish products and dairy products are the most reported cases
of food fraud
• Types of fraud differ among these food categories
Future developments – How do global developments impact?
• Globalization of the food supply chain
• Food insecurity
• Increasing consumer interest in how their food is produced
Globalization of the food supply chain
• Driven largely by those that seek access to wider markets and less expensive sources
of raw materials
• Emerging countries entering the global food supply chain
o This means increase in transaction points -> increase in complexity ->
decrease in transparency -> increase in fraud risk
Increasing world population
• Food security
o Higher demand must be met with a higher supply
• Food competes with feed and fuel
, • Climate change: water availability
o Food production requires a lot of water
• More pressure on supply and demand will affect food fraud too
The role of consumers
• Consumers are mostly the victims of food fraud,
o but can be the inspectors as well!
o but can also cause food fraud themselves due to demand for low prices
How can consumer protect themselves from food fraud?
• Buy from reputable brands and sources
• Buy foods in minimally processed form
• Buy from short, visible supply chains
• Be skeptical regarding prices
o If they are too low, it's too good to be true
• Read the labels of the products you buy
o Sometimes what is perceived as 'fraud' is lawful (but may be awful)
• Self-authentication devices
Food Fraud & Mitigation
Period 5 – Wageningen University
Author: Bryan Schoenmaker
Content
Lecture 1 – Introduction to food fraud .................................................................................................. 1
Lecture 2 – Past, current, future of food fraud ...................................................................................... 3
Lecture 3 (Self-study) - Food fraud and legislation................................................................................ 5
Lecture 4 (Self-study) - Food fraud and safety....................................................................................... 7
Lecture 5 – Food fraud concept & opportunities................................................................................... 8
Lecture 6 – Motivations ........................................................................................................................ 10
Lecture 7 (Self-study) - Food fraud and criminology ........................................................................... 12
Lecture 8 (Self-study) – Dice test.......................................................................................................... 13
Lecture 9 – Technical controls .............................................................................................................. 14
Lecture 10 (Self-study) – Technical controls ........................................................................................ 19
Lecture 11 (Self-study) - Managerial controls...................................................................................... 21
Lecture 12 – Fraud vulnerability assessments ..................................................................................... 22
Lecture 13 – Fraud vulnerability of chains and tiers ........................................................................... 24
Lecture 14 (Self-study) - Impact of food fraud..................................................................................... 28
Lecture 15 – Saffron experiment .......................................................................................................... 29
Lecture 16 (Self-study) – Statistics in Food Fraud Detection.............................................................. 30
Lecture 17 (Self-study) – Chromatography and mass spectrometry ................................................. 31
Lecture 18 (Self-study) – Direct Mass Spectrometry ........................................................................... 34
Lecture 19 (Self-study) – Spectroscopy ................................................................................................ 36
Lecture 20 (Self-study) – Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry ............................................................... 39
Lecture 21 (Self-study) – Elemental analysis ....................................................................................... 41
Lecture 22 (Self-study) – Molecular analysis ....................................................................................... 43
Lecture 1 – Introduction to food fraud
March 14th 2022
Definition of fraud
• Fraud is dishonesty calculated for advantage
• Fraud is about deceiving others, doing it on purpose and doing it for personal gain
Food fraud – GFSI definition
, • 'Food fraud is a collective term encompassing the deliberate and intentional
substitution, addition, tampering, or misrepresentation of food, food ingredients or food
packaging, labeling, production information, or false or misleading statements made
about a product for economic gain that could impact consumer health
• GFSI = Global Food Safety Initiative
• There is currently no official EU term for food fraud
• If you happen to discover the food is not authentic, it does not necessarily mean it is
fraud
o You need the deliberate aspect before calling it fraud
Counterfeit
• A counterfeit is 100% fake
• Full copy of a certain product or brand
• Usually expensive, premium brands
• Sometimes organized crime involved
Part fakes (adulteration/mislabeling)
• The removal of fractions, ingredients or constituents of a food or food packaging
• Addition of replacements, 'enhancers' or concealers
o EXAMPLE: adding water
o EXAMPLE: adding colorants
• Mostly regular businesses in the chain
Examples of food fraud
• Adulteration: the action of making something poorer in quality by the addition of
another substance
o Species adulteration -> replacing beef with horse meat
• Adding water
• Illegal ingredients
• Recycling
To summarize: types of adulteration issues
• Historically:
, o Changing the composition of the food
• Nowadays:
o Provenance (geographical origin)
o Production system: organic, sustainable, animal welfare
▪ Mostly to do with labels and claims (keurmerken)
o Processing (fresh/defrosted meat)
o Expired foods
Lecture 2 – Past, current, future of food fraud
March 14th 2022
Changes in time
• Since the industrialization in the 19th century, food protection went from simple to
complex
• Distance between the producer and the consumer increased
• Food production:
o Foods from simple to complex
o More high value foods (spices)
o Distance between farmer and consumer increased
• Food adulteration:
o Food identity becomes harder to discover in complex foods
o More high value foods = more gains per kg
o Transparency in the chain has dramatically decreased
The food supply network
• Retail demands shape the global food market
• Price is the main governing feature
• Food and ingredients are sourced worldwide
• Extensive, fragile and vulnerable food supply chain
Estimates of food fraud -> difficult!
• Fraudsters do not report their crimes of course
• Individual regulatory bodies only have a snapshot of what is actually happening
Fraud reports
• Herbs, spices, olive oils, fish products and dairy products are the most reported cases
of food fraud
• Types of fraud differ among these food categories
Future developments – How do global developments impact?
• Globalization of the food supply chain
• Food insecurity
• Increasing consumer interest in how their food is produced
Globalization of the food supply chain
• Driven largely by those that seek access to wider markets and less expensive sources
of raw materials
• Emerging countries entering the global food supply chain
o This means increase in transaction points -> increase in complexity ->
decrease in transparency -> increase in fraud risk
Increasing world population
• Food security
o Higher demand must be met with a higher supply
• Food competes with feed and fuel
, • Climate change: water availability
o Food production requires a lot of water
• More pressure on supply and demand will affect food fraud too
The role of consumers
• Consumers are mostly the victims of food fraud,
o but can be the inspectors as well!
o but can also cause food fraud themselves due to demand for low prices
How can consumer protect themselves from food fraud?
• Buy from reputable brands and sources
• Buy foods in minimally processed form
• Buy from short, visible supply chains
• Be skeptical regarding prices
o If they are too low, it's too good to be true
• Read the labels of the products you buy
o Sometimes what is perceived as 'fraud' is lawful (but may be awful)
• Self-authentication devices
