mislabelling - News - FoodAuthenticity2024-03-29T13:57:07Zhttps://www.foodauthenticity.global/blog/feed/tag/mislabellingCanadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) Publishes its 2020-21 Food Fraud Annual Reporthttps://www.foodauthenticity.global/blog/canadian-food-inspection-agency-cfia-publishes-its-2020-21-food-f2022-05-25T19:51:25.000Z2022-05-25T19:51:25.000ZMark Woolfehttps://www.foodauthenticity.global/members/MarkWoolfe<div><p><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}10515481280,RESIZE_584x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}10515481280,RESIZE_400x{{/staticFileLink}}" width="350" alt="10515481280?profile=RESIZE_400x" /></a></p>
<p>In 2020 to 2021, the CFIA tested a total of 525 samples for authenticity. Its targeted sampling yielded the following % of satisfactory results:</p>
<p>88.5% honey, 91.2% fish, 87.8% olive oil, 66.2% other expensive oils (such as, sesame seed oil, grapeseed oil, coconut oil, almond oil and others), and 92.9% spices.</p>
<p>Where the results were unsatisfactory, the CFIA took corrective or enforcement action, including products being removed from Canadian market, or their detention, destruction, or relabelling. In the case of honey for example, the following amounts of adulterated honey was prevented from entering the Canadian market.</p>
<ul>
<li>142 kg of imported honey was voluntarily destroyed</li>
<li>17 800 kg were removed from Canada</li>
<li>10 963 cases and 5 barrels were detained</li>
</ul>
<p>The results of the CFIA's report on food fraud are being used to inform future sampling and inspection strategies to better target foods that are more likely to be misrepresented.</p>
<p>Read the <a href="http://www.canada.ca/en/food-inspection-agency/news/2022/05/government-of-canada-continues-to-tackle-food-fraud.html" target="_blank">CFIA News Release</a> or the <a href="http://inspection.canada.ca/science-and-research/our-research-and-publications/food-fraud-report/eng/1651594307095/1651594307580://" target="_blank">full report</a> giving all the results of the sampling.</p></div>Seafood Fraud in Canada: 2021 Testing Results Report - nearly half of seafood samples in restaurants and grocery stores in four major Canadian cities were mislabeledhttps://www.foodauthenticity.global/blog/seafood-fraud-in-canada-2021-testing-results-report-nearly-half-o2021-08-10T19:15:45.000Z2021-08-10T19:15:45.000ZSelvarani Elahihttps://www.foodauthenticity.global/members/SelvaraniElahi869<div><p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/9405396455?profile=original" target="_blank"><img class="align-left" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/9405396455?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="217" height="281" alt="9405396455?profile=RESIZE_710x" /></a><span style="font-size:12pt;">In spring <strong>2021</strong>, Oceana Canada tested 94 seafood samples from retailers and restaurants in four major<br />Canadian cities: Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa and Halifax and found that of the samples tested, <strong>46 per cent were mislabelled</strong>. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:12pt;">This is consistent with national testing conducted between <strong>2017-2019</strong>, which showed that <strong>47 per cent of 472 seafood samples tested were mislabelled</strong> in some way. Of these,<br />51 per cent of 373 samples were previously mislabelled in the same four cities tested.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:12pt;">Read <a href="https://oceana.ca/en/publications/reports/seafood-fraud-canada-2021-testing-results-report#" target="_blank">full report</a>.</span></p>
<p> </p></div>Rice fraud a global problem: A review of analytical tools to detect species, country of origin and adulterationhttps://www.foodauthenticity.global/blog/rice-fraud-a-global-problem-a-review-of-analytical-tools-to-detec2021-08-10T16:50:17.000Z2021-08-10T16:50:17.000ZSelvarani Elahihttps://www.foodauthenticity.global/members/SelvaraniElahi869<div><p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/9404954476?profile=RESIZE_930x" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/9404954476?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="710" alt="9404954476?profile=RESIZE_710x" /></a></p>
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<h3 id="sectitle0015" class="u-h4 u-margin-m-top u-margin-xs-bottom">Background</h3>
<p id="abspara0010">Food fraud is the intentional deception carried out for gain, and is growing. Rice is the most used and the staple cereal for more than half of the world. Because of the scale of the global rice industry, the opportunities for fraud are large, of concern and threat to the economies and health of many.</p>
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<h3 id="sectitle0020" class="u-h4 u-margin-m-top u-margin-xs-bottom">Scope and approach</h3>
<p id="abspara0015">This review ouylines the complexities of the global rice industry and outlines current frauds. Fraudulent actions can be on many levels such as: botanical and geographical origin, adulteration/substitution, ageing, cultivation practices, aroma/flavour and amounts of microelements. To deal with new rice frauds, the range of techniques to detect them is increasing.</p>
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<div id="abssec0020">
<h3 id="sectitle0025" class="u-h4 u-margin-m-top u-margin-xs-bottom">Key findings and conclusions</h3>
<p id="abspara0020">Current research concerning rice fraud is mainly focussed on rice authenticity testing for botanical/geographical origin or cultivation methods. In the case of Mass Specrometry, more advanced techniques are increasingly applied due to their great untargeted analysis power. Spectroscopic techniques can mainly provide screening, but rapid and non-destructive sample analysis, they are cost effective and once established require little expertise. DNA assays are excellent tools to apply for authenticity testing of botanical origin of rice. There is at present, no single analytical tool capable of providing an answer to all rice authentication problems, thus it is necessary to use several approaches in profiling and identification of possible markers and/or adulterants.</p>
<p>Read <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0924224421004167" target="_blank">full article</a>.</p>
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<p> </p></div>Isotopic Analysis Helps Identify Fraudulent Truffles – The World's Most Expensive Foodhttps://www.foodauthenticity.global/blog/isotopic-analysis-helps-identify-fraudulent-truffles-the-world-s-2021-08-10T15:26:29.000Z2021-08-10T15:26:29.000ZSelvarani Elahihttps://www.foodauthenticity.global/members/SelvaraniElahi869<div><p><img class="align-left" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/9404682289?profile=RESIZE_584x" width="397" height="223" alt="9404682289?profile=RESIZE_584x" /><strong>Truffles: the most expensive food on earth and a target for food fraud</strong></p>
<div class="newsstory-section-body">
<p>Truffles are edible fungi that grow in the soil in symbiosis with the roots of several tree and bush species. Due to their aroma, their price can range from a few hundred dollars to thousands of dollars per kilogram. The most valued varieties are the ones produced in Europe (mainly in Croatia, France, Hungary, Italy, Slovenia and Spain) which account for 85% of the global market. </p>
<p>Scientists from the <a href="https://www.ijs.si/ijsw/JSI">Jozef Stefan Institute</a> in Slovenia, with technical advice and analytical support from the IAEA and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), are studying their composition in order to determine their origins and help detect fraud. Thanks to the database and the techniques developed, other laboratories worldwide can also test truffles, establish their geographical origin and verify if they are genuine.</p>
<p>The most important results of their study <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/1420-3049/25/9/2217">were recently published</a> in the journal <em>Molecules</em>. The study focuses on fraud related to misrepresentation of the geographical origin or species identification of the mushroom, known as mislabelling.</p>
<p>The cheats can be found out with the help of chemical analysis: because the isotopic make-up of the various truffles grown in different parts of the world are different, this analysis helps reveal their origins. The Slovenian scientists created a reference database for truffles. This database includes natural occurring stable isotope ratio of hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, sulphur and strontium as well as the elemental and isotopic composition of authentic Slovenian truffle samples of the <em>Tuber</em> species (which includes calcium, cadmium, copper, iron, mercury, potassium, phosphorus, lead, aluminium, arsenic, barium, cobalt, chromium, caesium, magnesium, manganese, sodium, nickel, rubidium, sulphur, strontium, vanadium and zinc) from a range of geographical, geological and climatic origins.</p>
<p>Read <a href="https://www.iaea.org/newscenter/news/scientists-detect-fake-truffles" target="_blank">full article</a>.</p>
</div></div>Canadian Food Inspection Agency report on fish species substitution surveillance shows 92% compliancehttps://www.foodauthenticity.global/blog/canadian-food-inspection-agency-report-on-fish-species-substituti2021-03-25T00:36:55.000Z2021-03-25T00:36:55.000ZSelvarani Elahihttps://www.foodauthenticity.global/members/SelvaraniElahi869<div><p style="text-align:left;"><img class="align-center" src="https://media-exp1.licdn.com/dms/image/C4E22AQHBUgqaIgnKrQ/feedshare-shrink_800/0/1616616305041?e=1619654400&v=beta&t=XYAFbfDlinVazIDS3Rar2BUkVVLK_ypq0_nDOwhm0bw" width="381" height="197" alt="1616616305041?e=1619654400&v=beta&t=XYAFbfDlinVazIDS3Rar2BUkVVLK_ypq0_nDOwhm0bw" />The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has published a report on <span style="font-size:10pt;">fish species substitution surveillance.</span></p>
<p>Fish filets in fresh, frozen, dried, or salted format were collected to determine if the common name was accurately represented in relation to the species of fish. CFIA inspectors collected fish samples at domestic processors, importers and retail establishments (fish packaged at retail). The Ministère de l'Agriculture, Pêcheries et l'Alimentation du Québec (MAPAQ) collected retail samples in Québec. From April 1, 2019 to March 31, 2020, 362 samples were collected from across Canada.</p>
<p>The samples were tested at a CFIA laboratory using DNA-based fish species identification testing. This method compares DNA of samples against DNA barcode sequences for known fish species contained in a database.</p>
<p>The results showed that 92% of the samples tested were assessed as being satisfactory.</p>
<p>Read <a href="https://inspection.canada.ca/science-and-research/our-research-and-publications/report/eng/1616420451614/1616420452192" target="_blank">full report</a>.</p></div>Chinese ministry of agriculture has ruled that all salmonidae fish can now be sold under the umbrella name of “salmon”https://www.foodauthenticity.global/blog/chinese-ministry-of-agriculture-has-ruled-that-all-salmonidae-fis2018-08-14T12:23:18.000Z2018-08-14T12:23:18.000ZSelvarani Elahihttps://www.foodauthenticity.global/members/SelvaraniElahi869<div><p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/71542302?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img class="align-right" src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/71542302?profile=original" width="620" /></a></p>
<p>In a move that customers have labelled very fishy, the Chinese government has ruled that rainbow trout can now be labelled and sold as salmon.</p>
<p>The seemingly bizarre move comes after complaints earlier this year that rainbow trout was being mislabelled.</p>
<p>In May, media reported that much of what was sold as salmon in <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/china">China</a> was actually rainbow trout, to widespread consternation from fish-buyers.</p>
<p>But instead of banning vendors from deceiving their customers, the China Aquatic Products Processing and Marketing Alliance (CAPPMA), which falls under the Chinese ministry of agriculture, has ruled that all salmonidae fish can now be sold under the umbrella name of “salmon”, reports the <a href="http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1114989.shtml">Global Times</a>.</p>
<p>Rainbow trout and salmon are both salmonidae fish and look quite similar when filleted. However, salmon live in salt water and rainbow trout live in fresh water.</p>
<p>Read the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/aug/14/china-rainbow-trout-and-salmon-the-same-thing" target="_blank" rel="noopener">full article</a>.</p>
<p> </p>
</div>When you buy fresh salmon, you could be getting duped almost half the timehttps://www.foodauthenticity.global/blog/when-you-buy-fresh-salmon-you-could-be-getting-duped-almost-half-2017-08-07T10:32:42.000Z2017-08-07T10:32:42.000ZSelvarani Elahihttps://www.foodauthenticity.global/members/SelvaraniElahi869<div><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2246554?profile=RESIZE_400x&width=400"></div><div><div class="content-list-component bn-content-list-text text">
<p class="p1"><a href="http://usa.oceana.org/" target="_blank"><font color="#2E7061">Oceana</font></a>, a nonprofit seafood conservation group, did a study back in 2015 and found that <a href="http://usa.oceana.org/sites/default/files/4046/salmon_leave_behind_lowres_final_updated.pdf" target="_blank"><font color="#2E7061">43 percent of the salmon</font></a> they tested was actually mislabeled.</p>
<p class="p1">Most of that salmon fraud ― we’re talking 69 percent of it ― mislabeled farmed salmon as being wild-caught salmon, which is typically <a href="http://www.sunset.com/food-wine/flavors-of-the-west/salmon-farmed-or-wild" target="_blank"><font color="#2E7061">more revered</font></a>. That means you could be paying for a wild-caught Pacific salmon filet, when in fact you’re getting Atlantic farmed salmon.</p>
<p class="p1">Other fraud in the salmon market occurs when “<span>one type of wild salmon is substituted for another, like the cheaper chum salmon or pink salmon being sold as a more expensive salmon like coho or sockeye,” </span><span>Kimberly Warner, chief scientist at Oceana, told HuffPost.</span></p>
<div class="content-list-component bn-content-list-text text">
<h3 class="p1">Most of the fraud happens at restaurants.</h3>
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<div class="content-list-component bn-content-list-text text">
<p>Oceana found that most of the fraud from their study occurred at restaurants<a href="http://usa.oceana.org/sites/default/files/4046/salmon_leave_behind_lowres_final_updated.pdf" target="_blank" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=http://usa.oceana.org/sites/default/files/4046/salmon_leave_behind_lowres_final_updated.pdf&source=gmail&ust=1501614786319000&usg=AFQjCNEyc9ybeW8Md7hrHqpDQ-SagwxCAw"><font color="#2E7061"> (67 percent vs. 20 percent at big chain retailers).</font></a> Smaller grocery markets were also often guilty of salmon fraud. Big chain retailers are your safest bet for getting the salmon you actually want. But it isn’t always restaurants or markets pulling a fast one on consumers. </p>
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<div class="content-list-component bn-content-list-text text">
<p class="p1">Sometimes the restaurants and retailers are the victims.</p>
</div>
<div class="content-list-component bn-content-list-text text">
<p class="p1"><span>“What we’re dealing with is two different types of fraud,” Gavin Gibbons of the National Fisheries Institute told HuffPost. “One is species substitution, where the retailer or restaurant is the victim. They’re being defrauded because the person selling them the salmon tells them it’s one thing when it’s not. The other side of it is menu mislabeling or just mislabeling in a retail establishment, and that’s when they say it’s wild-caught salmon but they know it’s farmed salmon. So there’s two distinctly different things, but they’re both fraud.”</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span><a href="http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/us_597f435de4b02a8434b7ebdc/amp" target="_blank">Read full article</a></span></p>
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</div>156 Food Fraud Cases Reported in 2016 by the EU Food Fraud Networkhttps://www.foodauthenticity.global/blog/156-food-fraud-cases-reported-in-2016-by-the-eu-food-fraud-networ2017-06-01T13:06:22.000Z2017-06-01T13:06:22.000ZSelvarani Elahihttps://www.foodauthenticity.global/members/SelvaraniElahi869<div><p><font size="3">EU Food Fraud Network has published its report for 2016 which shows that 156 food fraud cases were dealt with (147 food & 9 feed). Of these, the top five commodities that fraud was observed in were:</font></p>
<ol>
<li>
<p><span class="font-size-3">Meat & meat products (excluding poultry)</span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span class="font-size-3">Fish & fish products</span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span class="font-size-3">Fats & oils</span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span class="font-size-3">Poultry meat & poultry meat products</span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span class="font-size-3">Milk & milk products</span></p>
</li>
</ol>
<p><b><font size="3"> </font></b><font size="3">M</font><font size="3">islabelling composition was, <font size="3">by far,</font> the largest violation observed.</font></p>
<p><font size="3"><font size="3">Read the full</font> <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/food/sites/food/files/safety/docs/food-fraud_network_activity_report_2016.pdf"><font color="#0000FF" size="3">report</font></a> <font size="3">by the European Commission.</font></font></p>
<p><b><font size="3">The EU Food Fraud Network</font></b></p>
<p><font size="3">As provided for in Title IV of Regulation (EC) N° 882/2004, where the outcome of official controls on food and feed requires action in more than one Member State, competent authorities in the Member States concerned shall provide each other with administrative assistance. Upon receiving a reasoned request, the requested competent authorities shall ensure that the requesting competent authority is provided with all the necessary information and documents enabling the latter to verify compliance with feed and food law within its jurisdiction. An administrative assistance may also end up with two or more competent authorities participating in a joint inspection.</font></p>
<p><font size="3">Liaison bodies are at the very core of the mechanism of administrative assistance. These are designated within a Member State to assist and coordinate communication between competent authorities. The role of liaison bodies is essential for the good functioning of administrative assistance, as each liaison body has the exact understanding of how competences are shared within its Member State, thus allowing the information to swiftly reach its destination.</font></p>
<p><font size="3">Empowering liaison bodies with a dedicated tool soon became a necessity. At the beginning, information exchange was carried out through conventional means such as letters, emails and phone calls. However, the horsemeat scandal of 2013 proved the need for a streamlined method of communication. The Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed was the only viable tool for these exchanges, however the horsemeat crisis did not show any profiles of public health risks, thus falling outside the scope of that system. In response to that crisis, the <b>EU Food Fraud Network</b></font> <font size="3">was set up with the aim of allowing the EU countries to work in accordance with the rules laid down in Articles 36-40 of the Official Controls Regulation (Regulation 882/2004, rules on administrative cooperation and assistance) in matters where the national authorities are confronted with possible intentional violations of food chain law with a cross-border impact.</font></p>
<p><font size="3">The EU Food Fraud Network consists of contact points in the EU Member States, in Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and the Commission. The contact points of the EU Food Fraud Network are representatives of the authorities designated by each Member State for the purpose of ensuring cross-border administrative cooperation with their counterparts in the other Member States in matters of suspected intentional and economically motivated violations.</font></p>
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