Food Fraud Vulnerability and Mitigation Plan North America

Food Fraud is the deliberate and intentional substitution, addition, tampering or misrepresentation of food, food ingredients or mislabeling on food packaging for the seller’s economic gain. Food fraud is increasingly widespread and results in billions in economic loss and long-term damage to brand reputation. It can also pose a serious threat to public health.

The FDA Food Safety Modernization Act in the U.S. and regulations under review in Europe reinforce the need for the food industry to deter food fraud. In the private sector, the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) released new benchmarking requirements stating that adulteration and food fraud mitigation are integral parts of food safety management systems. Because of this, all GFSI benchmarked Certified Program Owners have or are now integrating food fraud vulnerability assessments and mitigation plans into their certification standards.

A Food Fraud Vulnerability and Mitigation Plan for Eurofins Companies includes:

1. Assess raw ingredients and Country of origin, by using historical records and known events.
2. Identify vulnerable links within supply chain management systems, through an interview
3. Categorize vulnerabilities
4. Developing mitigation measures to control vulnerabilities