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The US Pharmacopeial Convention added nearly 800 new reports to its 1300-item Food Fraud Database, increasing the number of entries by around 60 percent. Seafood, clouding agents and lemon juice were found to be among the top categories where food fraud occurred, joining milk, vegetable oils and spices as the top offenders. Food fraud encompasses the deliberate substitution, addition, tampering or misrepresentation of food, food ingredients or food packaging, or false or misleading statements made about a product for economic gain. Seafood fraud included mislabeling the fish escolar as white tuna or butterfish and puffer fish as monkfish. Seafood fraud is especially troubling given that seafood safety controls are species-specific. Clouding agent fraud occurred when Di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) and other related phthalates were added in place of more expensive palm oil to fruit juices and other products. DEHP safety concerns include cancer and improper reproductive organ development in children.
The Food Defense Strategy Exchange (FDSE) is a forum for food defense professionals to interact and share their knowledge and experiences. At the most recent FDSE, a poll of attendees revealed that approximately two-thirds were either re-evaluating their existing food defense plan, or implementing new food defense plans. In this podcast, Don Hsieh, Director of Commercial and Industrial Marketing at Tyco Integrated Security, discusses this topic and other findings from the exchange, and offers some best practices to proactively protect a company’s brand from food adulteration.
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