Five Risks to Your Food Fraud Program
Five Risks to Your Food Fraud Program
Food fraud has been a topic that continues to be of high interest. All GFSI bench-marked Certified Program Owners have added food fraud vulnerability assessments and mitigation plans into their certification standards.
Diving deeper into the meaning of food fraud, experts define it as deliberate and intentional substitution, addition, misrepresentation of food, or misleading statements made about a product for economic gain that could impact consumer health.
There are two parts to controlling food fraud in any food safety management systems: 1) Vulnerability Assessment and 2) a Mitigation Plan. The vulnerability assessment identifies potential risk from your ingredients that could infiltrate your systems. The mitigation plan then puts out a plan to regulate the risk and reduce it.
Below are the top risks that should be considered when developing your food fraud plan.
1. Supplier Relationship
Knowing who your suppliers are is a critical step to understanding your risks so you will want to assess your suppliers on their history, audit strategy, and testing frequency. All of these contribute to their risk rating and potential frauds that could be introduced into your system.
2. Supply Chain
Who supplies your suppliers? The entire chain, starting at your company tracing all the way back to the farm should be reviewed. Adulteration is possible at all points in the supply chain and should not be overlooked. The longer the chain, the more risk that can be introduced into the ingredient that you are purchasing for your brand.
3. Geopolitical Considerations
Climate can play a big role in food safety as well as surrounding areas and their hardships. In 2011, the Fukushima nuclear incident introduced radiation effects in the space that could cross-contaminate ingredients from the area. In 2020, the California fire season significantly impacted local farms and wineries with smoke particle contamination.
4. Fraud History
Taking a look at past recalls and exposures to the market can give you a great overview of what ingredients may contain higher risks to food fraud. Past data shows there has been known fraud in many industries such as spices, honey, seafood, oils, wine, juices, and others.
5. Economic Anomalies
If the price is too good to be true, it probably is. In 2007, wheat gluten tainted with melamine killed an estimate of 2,000 to 7,000 pets in North America. This was a direct effect of where wheat gluten was sold at a premium price due to a shortage in the marketplace.
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