© 2024 J. de Jong
Food Fraud and Mitigation (FQD36306)
This summary was written in the academic year 2023-2024, including notes from all lectures (+slides)
and overviews of types of food fraud, (non-)targeted controls and food fraud factors with examples.
Contents
Food Fraud and Mitigation (FQD36306) ................................................................................................. 1
Lecture 1: course outline + definition of food fraud ............................................................................... 2
Lecture 2: past, present and future of food fraud .................................................................................. 5
Lecture 3: food fraud concept ................................................................................................................. 7
Lecture 4+5: opportunities and motivations .......................................................................................... 8
Lecture 6+7: controls ............................................................................................................................ 10
Lecture 8: food fraud authentication .................................................................................................... 12
Lecture 9: targeted controls .................................................................................................................. 14
Lecture 10: food fraud from a toxicological perspective ...................................................................... 21
Lecture 11: non-targeted control methods........................................................................................... 22
Lecture 12+13: introduction to food fraud vulnerability ...................................................................... 26
Lecture 14: statistics in food fraud ........................................................................................................ 29
Lecture 15: food fraud and criminology................................................................................................ 31
Lecture 16: food fraud and digital traceability ...................................................................................... 33
Link to Quizlet ....................................................................................................................................... 37
Types of food fraud and examples ........................................................................................................ 37
Targeted control methods: principle and examples.............................................................................. 38
Non-targeted control methods: principle and examples ...................................................................... 40
Food fraud factors and their assumptions ............................................................................................ 41
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, © 2024 J. de Jong
Lecture 1: course outline + definition of food fraud
After successful course completion, you are expected to be able to:
• LO1: explain the theoretical concept of food fraud;
• LO2: describe and rate relevant fraud indicators;
• LO3: describe fraud vulnerability assessment strategies and interpret fraud vulnerability
assessment results;
• LO4: develop a control plan and select relevant control measures to reduce the vulnerability
to fraud for various cases;
• LO5: describe various groups of analytical tests and their user groups;
• LO6: identify the pros and cons of technological and managerial controls in various
situations;
• LO7: describe the perspectives of various stakeholders.
Introduction to food fraud
Definitions of fraud
• Fraud = dishonesty calculated for advantage.
• Demarcation of fraud = deceiving others, on purpose and for personal gain.
• Food fraud = selling a product that is not authentic.
o A collective term encompassing the deliberate and intentional substitution, addition,
tampering, or misrepresentation of food, food ingredients, or food packaging,
labelling, production information, or false or misleading statements made about a
product for economic gain that could impact consumer health (Spink and Moyer,
2011) → GFSI definition
o Suspicion of intentional actions taken by businesses or individuals for the purpose of
deceiving purchasers and gaining an undue advantage therefrom, in violation of the
rules referred to in Article 1(2) of Regulation (EU) 2017/625.
Not authentic does not automatically mean that it is fraud → has to be intentional.
Types of food fraud
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, © 2024 J. de Jong
Counterfeit
Counterfeit = Intellectual Property Right (IPR)
infringement, including any aspects of the genuine
product or packaging being replicated, for instance the
process of copying the brand name, packaging concept or
processing method for economic gain = 100%
fakes/imitation.
Grey market
Grey market = production, theft, and diversion involving unauthorised sales channels for products
(traceability issues).
Adulteration/product tampering
Adulteration/product tampering = intentional addition of a foreign or inferior quality substance or
element; by replacing a more valuable substance or element with less valuable or inert ingredients.
• Substitution = process of replacing a nutrient, an ingredient, a food or part of a food (often
one with high value), with another nutrient, ingredient, food or part of food (often one with
lower value).
• Dilution = process of mixing a liquid ingredient with high value with a liquid of lower value to
expand the total volume and reduce the concentration.
• Unapproved/undeclared ‘enhancements’ = adding unapproved and undeclared compounds
to food products to enhance their quality attributes.
• Concealment = process of hiding the low quality of food ingredients/products.
Mislabelling
Mislabelling = placing of explicit false/ misleading/ deceptive information on packaging for economic
gain.
Summary of types
Impact of food fraud
Levels of impact
• Businesses and the wider environment (chain, tiers).
• Consumers → undermines their confidence.
• Societal → public health risks.
• Competent authorities → loss in credibility.
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, © 2024 J. de Jong
Businesses
Big companies often won’t be the ones to commit the fraud themselves, because they have their
reputation and trust of clients/consumers on stake. Possible losses:
• Confidence losses
• Legal proceedings
• Sales losses
• Recall losses
• Third party losses (extra testing)
Consumers
Most consumers would unknowingly and unintentionally purchase counterfeit/adulterated food
products due to them being so closely like the genuine product → they cannot distinguish them.
• Financially
• Nutritionally
• Safety
• Breach of certain norms and values (e.g., religious choices or choices with regard to
production systems or animal welfare)
• Losing faith in food production, retail, society, etc.
Consumers can protect themselves by:
• Buy from reputable brands and sources.
• Buy foods in minimally processed form, if possible. Buying whole foods empowers you to
ensure its integrity.
• When possible, buy from short, visible supply chains.
• Be sceptical about prices that appear too good to be true – they probably are... (‘You get
what you pay for’).
• Read the labels of the products you buy, sometimes what is perceived as ‘fraud’ is lawful (but
may be awful).
• Self authentication devices.
Societal
• Food fraud affects intellectual property protection of a region or country.
• It may also hamper innovation by displacing legitimate sales.
• Mislabelling can potentially affect the brand image of a region, or even a country.
Summary of losses
Food fraud impacts on businesses, consumers, even region/countries. There are five types of losses:
1. Social losses and punishments
2. Sales losses and over payment
3. Recall losses
4. Confidence losses
5. Third party losses (e.g., extra testing)
Consumers roles:
• Victims
• Last line of defence
• Fraud drivers through purchasing behaviour
Surfacing fraud cases are eroding consumer trust.
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