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Food Frauds: Economic loss and health hazard

11 March, 2023
Food Frauds

According to the European Commission, food frauds yearly cause economic damage accounting for €8 to €12 billion, but what are those? They’re the misdescription of where food originates, its composition, and how it has been obtained and prepared. So, it’s also a health matter since the misdescription can bypass quality standards. Right now, the European consumer is shielded by certifications – such as PDO or PGI – but their efficiency can be improved, for example, through technology.

What a Food Fraud is

Food frauds are a topic that rarely makes the news, but they are a crime happening more frequently than one would imagine. But first, what is meant by the term food fraud? As stated, it is a crime - normed by Regulation (EU) 2017/625 and Commission Regulation (EU) 2019/1715 – that the European Commission defines as "a non-compliance concerning any suspected intentional action by businesses or individuals, to deceive purchasers and gain undue advantage therefrom, in violation of the rules referred to in Article 1(2) of Regulation (EU) 2017/625" (FFN, 2020). Long story short, agri-food fraud is a misdescription of where food originates, its composition, and how it has been obtained and prepared (KC-FFQ,2020). This crime is based on four conditions: violation of EU rules laid out in the agri-food chain legislation; deception of customers, altering colouring, labels, the nature of the product, or hiding the natural properties of the product; undue advantage, bringing some economic gain; intention, when the non-compliances are non-accidental. To be clear, it happens when a producer or a retailer misleads a consumer by making him believe that his product is more valuable or healthier than it is.

What a Food Fraud does

Reading the explanation, it may appear as a minor crime, something that doesn't cause much harm to people, but actually, it does. First of all, it has a significant impact on the economy of the food sector: every year, the adulteration of food causes a loss of between 8 and 12 billion euros (KC-FFQ, 2020). This loss of money is due to the wrongdoing in selling the goods: for example, it is common knowledge that some food or particular types are way more expensive than others. So, the perpetrators sell their product as the highest quality, using a less valuable product or mixing the food with another low-quality ingredient. Sometimes, they even copy a brand or the name of a variety of food, such as claiming a sparkling wine is champagne even if it isn't from the Champagne-Ardenne region. Therefore, when this crime is committed, on the one hand, every business that focuses on quality is badly affected; on the other hand, every consumer buying a counterfeited product pays an excessive price.

But the price isn't the only damage done to the customer; it is a matter of health too. The regulations on the subject protect the consumer from food whose quality hasn't been checked and the possible allergens their meal may contain. Unfortunately, these rule violations can cause serious illnesses, sometimes even death. Recently in Italy, a 20-year-old girl died after suffering anaphylactic shock after eating a tiramisù labelled vegan but containing traces of milk and egg she had been allergic to since birth (ANSA, 2023). The World Health Organization (WHO) even mentioned food fraud as a critical element to be considered to build more solid global food systems in its "WHO global strategy for food Food safety 2022-2030".

The European Certification System

There are means to prevent the misdescription of food, for example, the European Certification System, which includes the PDO (Protected Designation of Origin) and PGI (Protected Geographical Indication) certificates. They are normed by Regulation (EU) no. 1151/2012, which defines both: a PDO product means one that has a specific place of origin – a region or a country – where the geographical environment, the human factor, and the processes – that take place in the defined geographical area and follow procedural guidelines of production - give it its unicity; a PGI product, instead, still originates in a specific location, but only its geographical origin confers it its qualities. These were created to mark specific European products and to preserve their unicity, establishing clear quality legal regimes aiming to give producers instruments for identifying and promoting their products, as well as protecting them from unfair practices and the consumers' good faith.

The problem is that keeping these standards requires a solid and efficient controlling system. According to Regulation (EU) 2017/625, Article 9, "Competent authorities shall perform official controls regularly, with appropriate frequencies determined on a risk basis, to identify possible intentional violations of the rules […] perpetrated through fraudulent or deceptive practices, and taking into account information regarding such violations shared through the mechanisms of administrative assistance.". The authorities do not have the resources to eliminate the possibility of food fraud to occur, as demonstrated by the Monthly Summary of Articles on Food Fraud and Adulteration by the European Commission, which reports every month tenth of fraud discovered by European law enforcement.

A better controlling system

A way to solve this lack of control effectiveness is through the use of technology, and that is what one of the Horizon Europe projects is concerned with. This project is called "A hoListic framework in the quality Labelled food supply chain systems' management towards enhanced data Integrity and verAcity, interoperability, traNsparenCy, and traceability", shortened in ALLIANCE. The goal is a paradigm shift in the food supply chain systems' management for the combat against food fraud. They want to provide a holistic framework that safeguards data integrity and veracity, enhances traceability and transparency, and reinforces interoperability in quality labelled supply chains (such as organic, PDO or PGI). These improvements will be made through technology solutions, such as distributed ledger technologies (like blockchains) supported by Internet of Thing sensing devices, fostering evidence-based decision-making through AI and ML. Registering every step of the food supply chain in a blockchain, which by its very nature is the perfect instrument to certify, can protect from the alteration of the food and guarantee the origin of every ingredient. Thus, implementing this project will ensure the quality and authenticity of the products we buy, as well as increasing food safety.

To conclude, food frauds are a crime that can cause much harm to businesses and people. So, it is mandatory to expose them but also prevent them. Therefore, we should update our fighting methods to eradicate this wrongdoing once and for all.

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