Food Fraud

“Of all the frauds practised by mercenary dealers there is none more reprehensible, and at the same time, more prevalent than the sophistication of the various articles of food.”

So wrote Fredrick Accum, a German chemist, in his work ‘A Treatise on Adulterations of Food, and Culinary Poisons’, published in 1820 which exposed numerous culinary sharp practices employed in the UK.

It detailed how bakers cut their flour with alum and chalk to make loaves whiter, and included plaster and sawdust in the recipe to make them heavier. Brewers added substances like strychnine to beer to make it taste bitter and save money on hops. Worst of all was the use of lead, copper or mercury salts to make brightly coloured sweets and jellies that would be attractive to children.

Click here for RQA’s Quick Tips on Preventing Food Fraud

Whilst Accum was writing nearly 180 years ago, we should not kid ourselves that today’s increasing regulation and tighter controls have eliminated the problem. In fact, the UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) was so concerned at the incidence of food fraud in 2002 that they established a specialist task force.

This followed an FSA study into Basmati rice sold in the UK. Using DNA techniques, it found that only 54 per cent of the bags labelled as such contained pure basmati rice - defined as a particular species of grain grown in the plains around the Ganges in northern India and east Pakistan. All the other samples had been diluted with inferior varieties - some by more than 60 per cent. One FSA official calculated that the fraud swindled consumers out of over £5 million that year alone.

Food fraud is big business and whilst no one knows its true extent, such investigations and surveys suggest that criminals and crooked food producers cheat retailers and shoppers out of hundreds of millions of pounds every year. With the UK food sector alone worth around £70 billion per year, even small percentages of fraudulent food can prove very lucrative to criminals. A few other facts:

• China accounts for 80% of all counterfeit items seized at EU’s borders although only 16% of these are food items
• In 2006, 1.2M food and beverage items that were not what they claimed to be were seized at EU’s external borders
• The Russian Agency for Health and Consumer Rights
– seized food products worth €9.6 million in 2004
– issued 30,000 orders to destroy non-authentic or counterfeit goods after inspecting 132,000 food companies
• They also disclosed that 75 per cent of the mineral water sold in Russia has fake labels on its bottles.

Denby Poultry Products Ltd was a seemingly reputable company processing meats for pet foods. However, it turned out to be part of an elaborate front for a criminal gang who were collecting waste meats from abattoirs deemed to be unfit for human consumption and ‘recycling’ it back into human food and selling it to food processors, caterers and even major retailers at huge profit. The perpetrators were eventually caught and prosecuted in 2003 but not before some 1,300 tonnes of condemned meat had been sold back into the food chain.

The problem is compounded further by the global nature of the food supply chain. Industry good practice, legislation and various audit standards have seen food companies take an increasing interest in where their raw materials are coming from and who supplies them. However, cases like Denby Poultry Products and the melamine contamination in Chinese milk prove that controls can still be defeated by determined criminals.

RQA offers services worldwide to help tackle counterfeiting of consumer products and food fraud

• RQA works closely with brand owners, risk managers and security professionals to develop and implement customised solutions that support brand protection

• RQA field representatives are assigned to do a “market sweep” of a specific area or region - the data captured enables the company to determine the level of counterfeit activity

• Counterfeit Studies by RQA enable your company to:
- have an assessment of the presence of actual counterfeit products
- survey markets in “high risk” countries
- monitor products at retail and wholesale to develop early warnings of potential counterfeiting
- measure the effectiveness of your brand protection strategies
- receive advice and support for future litigation

• RQA Field Representatives will:
- visit stores and purchase products that are potentially counterfeit
- check all the required products
- carry out simple product and packaging checks and send products back to you for further investigation
- provide you with the information you need to challenge counterfeit versions of your products

• Consultancy advice in manufacturing
- RQA consultants can advise on a range of control measures
- Label control
- Packaging
- Ingredient and product testing
- Other product security measures

For more information about how RQA can help you with the issue of counterfeiting and food fraud please click here to contact us.

Case Studies

Product Recall Solutions
food industry

Product Fruit Yoghurts Incident Foreign bodies Country Germany Date 12/10/2009	A German yoghurt manufacturer has recalled its fruit yoghurts from the market following the official control from the authorities. The reason for the product recall is that metal pieces have been found inside the fruit yogurts and the implicated products are being recalled from the consumers. The product, which has also been distributed to Austria, Czech Republic and Slovakia, has been withdrawn from all retailers. No injuries have been reported yet.
Product Smoked Cheese Incident Escherichia coli Country Australia Date 09/10/2009	Smoked cheese is being recalled from the market in Australia due to tests showing the products may be contaminated with E-coli bacteria. Consumers who purchased the product were urged not to consume it and return the product for a full refund. Recall advertisements have been issued with the notifications about the potential hazards to consumer's health when they consume the product.

Product Fruit Yoghurts
Incident Foreign bodies
Country Germany
Date 12/10/2009

A German yoghurt manufacturer has recalled its fruit yoghurts from the market following the official control from the authorities. The reason for the product recall is that metal pieces have been found inside the fruit yogurts and the implicated products are being recalled from the consumers. The product, which has also been distributed to Austria, Czech Republic and Slovakia, has been withdrawn from all retailers. No injuries have been reported yet.

Product Smoked Cheese
Incident Escherichia coli
Country Australia
Date 09/10/2009

Smoked cheese is being recalled from the market in Australia due to tests showing the products may be contaminated with E-coli bacteria. Consumers who purchased the product were urged not to consume it and return the product for a full refund. Recall advertisements have been issued with the notifications about the potential hazards to consumer's health when they consume the product.

Product Recall Solutions
consumer products

Product Notebook computer Incident Risk of fire Country United Kingdom Date 09/10/2009	A Chinese manufacturer in the UK has voluntarily recalled its notebook computers and stopped selling the product. The product poses a risk of fire because the external power supply may overheat under some operational circumstances. All affected products have been removed from the shelves and consumers were advised to return the products to the place of purchase for a full refund.
Product Boots Incident Chemical Country Germany Date 09/10/2009	The product has been voluntarily withdrawn from the market by the importer in Germany as the product poses a chemical risk. It contains 24 mg/kg of dimethylfumarate (DMF) and this substance is strongly sensitising on contact with the skin. According to Commission Decision 2009/215/EC consumer products containing dimethylfumarate are banned. The notification has been posted on RAPEX (The Rapid Alert System for Non-Food Products) website.

Product Notebook computer
Incident Risk of fire
Country United Kingdom
Date 09/10/2009

A Chinese manufacturer in the UK has voluntarily recalled its notebook computers and stopped selling the product. The product poses a risk of fire because the external power supply may overheat under some operational circumstances. All affected products have been removed from the shelves and consumers were advised to return the products to the place of purchase for a full refund.

Product Boots
Incident Chemical
Country Germany
Date 09/10/2009

The product has been voluntarily withdrawn from the market by the importer in Germany as the product poses a chemical risk. It contains 24 mg/kg of dimethylfumarate (DMF) and this substance is strongly sensitising on contact with the skin. According to Commission Decision 2009/215/EC consumer products containing dimethylfumarate are banned. The notification has been posted on RAPEX (The Rapid Alert System for Non-Food Products) website.

RQA Europe Limited
Science and Technology Centre
Earley Gate
Whiteknights Road
Reading RG6 6BZ
Tel 44 (0)118 935 72 42