Food fraud and more

Food Fraud

Food is not safe from fraud. Counterfeits, dilutions, substitution and mislabeling are among the many tactics fraudsters use to infiltrate the global food market. According to the Food and Drug Administration, food fraud affects 1% of the global food industry at a cost of $40 billion per year. Fabricating details about an animal’s true origin along with dilution or substitution were the most prevalent types of fraud committed from 2012 to 2021. A common example of this is diluting an expensive extra virgin olive oil with a cheap vegetable oil.

To fight against product fraud, the Food Fraud Prevention Think Tank suggests that consumers ask about the type of product, whether they can recognize the difference between products, what is known about the retailer or supplier, whether the online supplier is from a reliable source and how complaints are addressed. (See “Food fraud secretly infiltrates kitchens across America — here’s how to avoid it,” by Andrea Miller, CNBC, Jan. 15, 2023.)

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