The increase in global demand for food, linked to the growth of the world population, has incentivized the occurrence of food fraud.
A systematic research on Journal of Agriculture and Food Research (Bannor et al., 2023), offers useful insights on how to address a still current issue. (1)
1) Food fraud, systematic research
Researchers of the University of Sunyani, Ghana, Department of Agribusiness Management and Consumer Studies, examined a selection of 118 out of 642 scientific studies published on the topic of ‘food fraud’.
The results show the growing concern, over the last two decades, and efforts to combat food fraud in large markets such as the European Union and UK, United States and Canada, China.
2) Critical factors
The overall analysis of the literature on food fraud allows us to identify three critical factors:
- complexity of modern and conventional marketing channels
- scarcity and inadequacy of official controls and supervision on the application of local and international standards
- low levels of countermeasures and technological tools for the instant authentication of agricultural products.
3) Food fraud, concept
Food fraud occurs when a supplier
– deliberately adulterates, counterfeits, substitutes, misrepresents or tampers with a food product, its ingredients or its packaging, with the aim of
– increase the apparent value and obtain an undue economic advantage. Or again, increase its competitiveness on the market.
3.1) Classification
Global Food Safety Initiative, and so the European Commission, has classified food fraud into six categories:
- adulteration. That is to say the addition of unidentified and undeclared substances to food products to improve their quality attributes
- dilution (of high-value ingredients with lower-value ingredients)
- substitution (of a nutrient, an ingredient, a food or a valuable component of a food with one of lower value)
- counterfeiting (of trademarks and intellectual property rights)
- mislabelling, in terms of falsification or distortion of information
- concealment of the low quality of food components or products
4) Scientific publications
Scientific research on food fraud has only developed in recent years. Among the 118 studies selected, only one dates back to 2009. In the period 2009-2023 the research intensified, with a peak of 27 publications in 2022, followed by 18 articles in 2020.
The scientific publications on food fraud are concentrated on a few food categories and products, such as organic foods, olive oils, fish, meat, cereals, sugar, vegetables, coffee, butter and margarine, dairy products and food supplements.
International cooperation in research on the prevention and fight against food fraud it is all the more necessary as the episodes that occur in a country influence the evaluation of the products of that country and those coming from other countries.
4.1) Scientific journals
The ranking of scientific journals more productive and with greater impact on the topic of food fraud, applying the Hirsh index, is made up as follows:
- Food Control (h-index 9)
- Trends in Food Science and Technology Journal (h-index 5)
- Comprehensive Review in Food Science and Safety (h-index 4)
- to follow (h-index < 4) Food Chemistry, Renewable Agriculture And Food Systems, British Food Journal, Foods, Journal of Agricultural And Resources, Journal Of Food Composition And Analysis, Journal Of Food Products Marketing, Journal of International Food And Agribusiness Marketing , Journal of Macromarketing, Agriculture (Switzerland), Colombian Agronomy, Applied Economic Perspective, Applied Food Research, Aquaculture, Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resources Economics, Carpatathen Journal of Food Science and Technology, and Catalan Journal of Communication and Culture Studies.
4.2) Institutional funding
52 scientific studies on food fraud, equal to 44% of the publications analyzed, were financed by 74 public institutions. 13 of these funded at least two publications each, for a total of 32 publications.
USDA (US Department of Agriculture) and the European Commission are the most active funding bodies (4 publications), followed by Fundação para a Ciência ea Tecnologia, National Neutral Science Foundation of China and Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior which (3 publications).
The US and EU institutions were the most active sponsors in research on food fraud (with 10 and 8 articles, respectively), followed by Brazil (7 publications), Portugal and China (3 articles each), Australia (2 articles).
5) Technologies and analysis methods
The most used technologies to authenticate food products are spectroscopy, chromatography, chemometrics, DNA and AI. Spectroscopy is still the most widely used technique, with different methods such as terahertzkl, laser-induced breakdown, hyperspectral imaging, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), Raman, near-infrared ( NIR ), vibrational spectroscopy, UV spectroscopy.
Analytical methods based on DNA identification – eg Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (RFLPs), Random Amplification of Polymorphic DNAs (RAPDs), Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism (AFLPs), Simple Sequence Repeats (SSRs), DNA Bar Coding, Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNPs) – have been widely used on seafood, meats and food supplements.
Chromatographic techniques are considered more powerful and advanced than spectroscopic ones, thanks to the high precision of the results. However, without being able to offer immediate results, like spectroscopy which is in any case reliable, cheaper and easier to manage thanks also to portable devices connected online. Also in combination with chemometrics and AI.
6) Economic and health impacts
Food fraud have a significant impact on the sector economy. A systematic review of the literature (Kendall et al., 2019) revealed that companies supplying quality food products have always suffered a reduction in sales, from 13% to 80% per year, following reports of ‘food fraud’ in their business sector. (2)
Food fraud impacts on the health of consumers can in turn be serious and widespread, as shown by the case studies referred to in the study in question. Having regard both to toxic infections with immediate damage, and to the greater risk of developing serious diseases in the long term, with possible repercussions on descendants (i.e. carcinogenesis and genotoxicity).
7) Possible solutions
The harmonization of rules mandatory and voluntary (3) to safeguard food safety, including analysis standards – in the opinion of the writer – constitutes the basis on which to promote cooperation between governments and control authorities, in the fight against criminal actions that may have an impact on public health as well as the proper functioning of the food supply chain at a global level.
‘ The blockchain offers one of the best traceability techniques that increases customer confidence in the food products they purchase and can help develop a well-founded food fraud prevention strategy ‘. (1) However, the attention of stakeholders (i.e. authorities, investors, companies) towards blockchain is still modest, despite the examples of Walmart and FDA. (4)
Dario Dongo
Footnotes
(1) Richard Kwasi Bannor, Kingsley Kofi Arthur, Dixon Oppong, Helena Oppong-Kyeremeh. A comprehensive systematic review and bibliometric analysis of food fraud from a global perspective. Journal of Agriculture and Food Research,
Volume 14, 2023, 100686. ISSN 2666-1543, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jafr.2023.100686
(2) Helen Kendall, Beth Clark, Caroline Rhymer, Sharron Kuznesof, Jana Hajslova, Monika Tomaniova, Paul Brereton, Lynn Frewer. A systematic review of consumer perceptions of food fraud and authenticity: A European perspective. Trends in Food Science & Technology, Volume 94, 2019, Pages 79-90, ISSN 0924-2244. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tifs.2019.10.005
(3) Dario Dongo, Giulia Baldelli. ISO 22380:2018, food fraud prevention. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 15.11.18
(4) Dario Dongo. Agri-food blockchain, from Walmart to the FDA in the USA, Wiise Chain in Italy. Towards the Web 3. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 9.2.22
Dario Dongo, lawyer and journalist, PhD in international food law, founder of WIISE (FARE - GIFT - Food Times) and Égalité.
