The FDA (US Food and Drug Administration) is allowing temporary flexibility in food labelling requirements for manufacturers experiencing difficulty sourcing some ingredients during the COVID-19 pandemic. It has published temporary guidance to allow for minor formulation changes without updating labels, in order to help minimise the impact of supply chain disruptions associated with the current COVID-19 pandemic on product availability.
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The Covid-19 outbreak has caused problems in certain sectors of the food supply chain, for example in meat processing plants, air freight of fresh produce. It means that many food manufacturers are struggling to obtain the all the ingredients in a global food chain for their food products. It also means that the shorter the food chain the less risk there is, and local supply chains are benefitting from this situation.
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Not from concentrate (NFC) orange juice sells at a premium compared to orange juice from concentrate. Chinese researchers have used untargeted metabolomics followed by identification of potential markers from standards to distinguish the two types of orange juice. This produced 91 and 42 potential markers present in NFC orange juice using the mass spectrometer injection in positive and negative mode, including 7 tripeptides (reported for the first time in orange juice). A partial least squares discriminant analysis model, based on the potential markers in positive mode was constructed and validated with 97% and 95% accuracy for training and test. The model was successfully applied to commercial samples, and one NFC brand of orange juice was found to be possibly mislabelled.
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Blockchain technology is becoming increasingly used in the food supply chain to improve traceability, but the trade-offs between implementation challenges and achievable impact remain unclear. Danish researchers have undertaken a study on six cases of blockchain-based technologies in the food supply chain by applying a technology assessment framework that distinguishes between four different components of a technology: technique, knowledge, organisation, and product. The results highlight how blockchain is not a stand-alone-technology, but rather one element in a system of technologies. While blockchain-based technologies are expected to bring a variety of impacts, only some are directly attributable to the blockchain element such as increased transparency, traceability, and trust. Other impacts such as improved data management are a side-effect of digitising non-digital processes. The long-term impacts of implementing blockchain in the food chain are not yet proven, and require further study.
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Polish researchers have used an LC-QTOF-MS/MS (Liquid Chromatography - Quadrupole Time of Flight - Mass Spectrometer) approach for detecting and identifying rabbit-specific peptide-markers from thermally processed meat products to differentiate rabbit from other commonly-consumed animal species. The instrument identified 49 heat stable peptide markers from rabbit myofibrillar and sarcoplasmic proteins. When 11 heat treated rabbit based pâtés were analysed, 3 of the 49 heat-stable peptides were consistently detected in all the pâté samples and hence considered robust markers for rabbit. Pork, lamb and chicken-specific peptides were also monitored in the pâté samples, and undeclared chicken was found in two of the pâtés.
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The FSSAI (Food Safety and Standards Authority of India) analysed 106,459 food samples across India in 2018-19, and found over 15.8% of the food samples were sub-standard, 3.7% unsafe, and 9% mislabelled. The FSSAI have accused 10 Indian states of being unable to ensure food security for consumers as they lack the workforce and adequate food testing laboratory infrastructure. In addition, a research report by Uttra Pradesh based Harcourt Butler Technical University found 70% of adulterated mustard oil in markets in Kanpur, a city known for its important markets for edible oil.
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The publication of the EU Food Fraud Network 2019 Annual Report was announced on May 19.The European Commission has given details of the proceduresof the Administrative Assistance and Cooperation System (AAC), and illustrated this with an example of an olive oil investigation. The AAC is an IT system developed and managed by the European Commission. An EU country can contact the competent authorities of another EU country and share information in a secure manner, which can lead to administrative actions, administrative sanctions or judicial proceedings. This exchange of information is an essential element for effective cross border investigation and for strategic assessment of the threat of fraud, which is at the heart of the exchange of information of the Food Fraud Network.
The 2019 Annual Report reveals that the top category of food investigated was fats and oils, with 44 recorded instances of administrative and investigative actions. Read the article here
The European Commission is still developing an integrated system to combat food fraud to match that of the safety of food and feed in the EU. The European Commission (EC) Knowledge Centre for Food Fraud and Quality (part of the Joint Research Centre) is charged with the provision of scientific insight for the policy making of EC services dealing with food fraud, and the creation of expert networks with the competent authorities of the EU Member States. The Centre undertook a stocktaking exercise of what works well, and which areas will need improvement for competent authorities to fight food fraud. This exercise highlighted (i) the development of early warning systems, (ii) the availability of compositional databases of vulnerable foods, and (iii) the creation of centres of competence as priorities for further action.
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After several months of consultation the European Commission has adopted and published on 20 May its ambitious "Farm to Fork Strategy" aiming to make food systems fair, healthy and environmentally-friendly. It is made up of 27 actions that will aim to make the European food system a global standard for sustainability. In terms of concrete targets, the Commission proposed an ambitious 50% cut for the use and risk of pesticides, as well as a 50% reduction of highly hazardous pesticides, a 20% cut in fertiliser use and a 50% reduction of antibiotic use in farming and aquaculture, all by 2030 and compared to the EU’s current level. It is also planned to address the issue of food loss and waste, step up the fight against food fraud and strengthen EU animal welfare rules, as well as provide clear information and empower consumers to make healthy and sustainable choices thanks to an EU-wide mandatory food labelling.
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Foods with names, which are linked directly or indirectly to a designated geographic origin are protected in law by a European based system of protected denomination of origin (PDO) and protected geographic indication (PGI). This study examines whether past protection of GIs through 11 Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) has increased trade in them. The answer matters for trade policy, since the protection of at least some GIs has been a red line in EU FTA negotiations. The findings of this study show that that legal protection of GIs in FTAs does not significantly increase trade in them. Hence, the suggested policy implication is that the EU should focus on external promotion of its GIs rather than asking trading partners for stronger legal protection.
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COVID-19 is disrupting food systems globally and governments must stabilise food supply chains and thoughtfully expand social safety nets now to avert social unrest. Lessons learned from the 2008–2012 food price crises globally, which caused riots in 50 countries, point to seven actionable points to consider.
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Fish species substitution and/or mislabelling is known to be a serious global issue. Spanish researchers used DNA barcoding to identify fish species in 313 samples collected in 204 mass catering outlets from 15 Spanish Autonomous Communities. The results showed that 50% of the food catering establishments sold mislabelled seafood. The fish species found to be most substituted were dusky grouper (shown left and known as Mero in Spanish) and tope shark, which were substituted by similar species of fish from Asian, South American and South African regions.
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This FAO publication provides a comprehensive introduction to blockchain, covers smart contracts, and explores how they relate to blockchain with an example of their use in seafood value chains. It examines major development and operational considerations for blockchain applications. It also analyses the seafood supply chain with considerations on flag, coastal, port, processing and market countries. The study identifies general control elements (critical tracking events and corresponding key data elements) that form the basis for traceability monitoring and acquisition, and summarises th suitability of blockchain application. It also investigates considerations for legality, transparency, species fraud and food safety.
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The European Commission published its 2019 Annual Report of the Food Fraud Network this month. It gives details of the number of requests for assistance and cooperation to investigate food fraud. The highest number of requests came from Germany (76), followed by the Commission (70), and top three groups of food investigated were fats and oils, fish and fish products, and meat and meat products (not including poultry). The report details EU coordinated actions taken in 2019 on illicit practices concerning animal-by-products, tuna and European eels. The EU Food Fraud Network is also engaged in Operation OPSON – a joint Europol/Interpol initiative targeting trafficking in fake and substandard food and beverages. In 2019, 16 Member States and 18 non-EU countries around the world investigated fraudulent organic food, 2,4 Dinitrophenol (DNP) and coffee (Arabica substituted by Robusta coffee)
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Livestock rustling is on the rise in the UK. According to the National Farmers Mutual Union Insurance company, which reported that in 2019 farm animals worth £3 million were stolen. An earlier Guardian article describes some of the disturbing incidents of livestock theft and illegal slaughter in 2014. It appears that the situation is worse even in the Covid-19 lockdown.
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In this article, Karen Everstine discusses the potential effects of the Covid-19 epidemic on food supply chain and the risk of increased food fraud. The epidemic has resulted in a weakening of regulatory oversight and food safety/authenticity auditing, and has already had an efect on some of the global supply chains.
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IGFS, Queens University Belfast working with ABP have analysed 413 fraud reports in the beef supply chain between 1997 and 2017 .published in the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) and HorizonScan to determine their overall pattern. Counterfeiting was the most common type of fraud in the beef industry; it accounted for 42.9% of all reports documented. When reports were classified by area in the supply chain in the report occurred, 36.4% of all cases were attributed to primary processing, of which 95.5% were counterfeiting cases. Counterfeiting included products manufactured/packed on unapproved premises, or without appropriate inspection or documentation, as well as products issued with fraudulent health certificates.
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GFSI (Global Food Safety Initiative) has just unveiled Version 2020 of its Benchmarking Requirements under its new Director Erica Sheward. As well as assessing food safety culture when companies are certified, Version 2020 puts more emphasis on food fraud and its mitigation to ensure compliance with both EU and US food law.
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The outbreak of the Coronavirus has offered an opportunity for fast cash as criminals exploit shortages of genuine products and the anxieties of the public. Europol has just published a report highlighting examples of counterfeit or sub-standard products sold during the corona crisis, which pose a real threat to public health and safety. People who buy these fake products have a false sense of security, while they are in fact left unprotected against the virus. Europol is currently supporting several operations across the EU to combat the distribution of counterfeit and sub-standard goods during the COVID-19 pandemic. This involves the intensified monitoring of online platforms in order to possibly tackle online Coronavirus-related crimes. Co-operation with private industry stakeholders is also a crucial aspect in the work Europol is transacting in an attempt to counteract the threat in this area. Whereas the report focuses on problems in the health sector, it could also have implications for the Agri-food sector as well.
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Milk adulteration normally involves dilution with water or whey and adding other nitrogen sources such as ammonium salts, urea, melamine or non-dairy proteins. The established method for detecting added water in milk is to determine its freezing point depression, however, this method would not be effective to detect most milk adulterations. Brazilian researchers have developed a rapid and simple method to screen milk for adulteration, which involves precipitation of the milk proteins with copper sulphate and measuring the intensity of remaining copper salt after complexing with EDTA with a smartphone and a colorimetric app. The method was tested by adulterating milk with ammonium chloride, urea and melamine, and was able to detect the addition of 1% added water to the milk.
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