It’s been happening for millennia; the sale of food that is not what it should be. We call it food fraud, and it’s a serious problem. Although it has been a well-known problem for many years, it wasn’t until the large-scale and well-publicised ‘horsemeat scandal’ of 2013, in which beef products were found to be adulterated with horsemeat, that the international food industry started to act in a collaborative way to tackle the issue. Since then, the food industry has discussed and implemented a range of measures designed to minimise the occurrence of food fraud. These measures include new regulatory requirements for food fraud prevention in the USA and changes to food safety standards in other parts of the world.
Food fraud occurs when food or drink is sold in a way that deliberately misleads or deceives consumers or customers for financial gain
For consumers:
- Click here to read an excellent introduction to food fraud for consumers from The Big Issue.
- Have you experienced food fraud? Take the survey and find out now.
- What to do if you have been a victim of food fraud – who to contact.
For food industry professionals:
- Read an introduction to food fraud for professionals here
- Do our free online training course here
- Learn the lingo; find an introduction to food fraud terminology here
- Check out our acronymn decoder, and learn about the differences between HACCP, VACCP and TACCP
- View an in-depth discussion on the latest trends in the study of food fraud from British experts
- Learn about the role of testing in food authenticity here
- What is a vulnerability assessment and why does the GFSI expect the food industry to do them? Click here for everything you ever wanted to know about vulnerability assessments.
- Find training courses in food fraud prevention here
- Who are the people behind food fraud? Learn about opportunistic and organised food crime here.
- Food fraud in the organic sector; is it as bad as they say? Read more here
- Learn about seafood fraud and mislabelling with these guidance videos from the US FDA
- Herbs and spices are on the food fraud hot list. Read about how oregano is affected here
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