Economic adulteration and counterfeiting of global food and consumer products are estimated to cost the industry $10 to $15 billion per year, according to a 2010 A.T. Kearney study conducted for the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA). The expense of one adulteration incident averages between 2 and 15 percent of a company’s yearly revenues. This translates into a $400 million loss for a $10 billion company or as much as $60 million for a $500 million company.
According to Europe’s FoodProductiondaily.com, the recent European horse meat scandal is expected to cost contract manufacturers tens of millions of euros as brand owners pass costs up the supply chain. Of course, some of this cost will be passed on to European consumers. Even so, the amount of product affected was relatively small. According to the UK House of Commons’ Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, Food Contamination report (Fifth Report of Session 2013-14), horse meat contamination was limited to a relatively small number of products, with more that 99 percent of those tested free of horse DNA. Tests across EU member states found 4.66 percent of products tested contained more than 1 percent horse DNA. The report also expresses concern about the decline in the number of public analysts who carry out tests and the public laboratories in which they work.