News

The Food and Agriculture Office (FAO) of the United Nations & World Health Organisation have relaunched the promotion of their database of GM foods.

This public database is primarily intended as a search-tool for safety assessments of authorised GM foods. It can, however, also be used to search (by commodity, or by OECD reference number) for which GM foods are authorised in which territories, and for the traits and characteristics of different GM varieties.  We have added it to FAN's index of "authentic food" databases.

The GM Foods database is open access to read but only approved authorities can upload entries.

You can access the database here

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This monthly highlights report has been produced for FAN members by one of our Partner organisations, iComplai.

The report is an AI-generated prioritised digest.  It is blended from online regulatory and media reports of food fraud incidents and suspicions, giving a summary of each selected issue and suggested mitigation steps.

iComplai are one of a number of commercial providers of digital horizon scanning tools, many of whom are signposted on FAN on our Incident Trends hub.  We do not endorse any specific company.  We are grateful to iComplai for providing this free digest which we hope you find useful.

If you know of a tool which would be beneficial to signpost to our membership, or if you are interested in becoming a FAN Partner, then please get in touch.

The Food Fraud Prevention Think Tank (Professor John Spink's group at Michigan State University) is seeking views on the use of the term "illicit" in the context of food fraud.  This has an impact on international standardisation, as well as the framing of legislation and on the communication and lesson-learning from food fraud incidents.

See the blog here for further details.  The survey is very short (10 questions) and framed using the analagy of the shadowy organised crime gangs operating in the Lego collectables market.

A new peer-reviewed knowledge paper from SSAFE explores the opportunities, benefits and challenges of using whole genome sequencing (WGS) in food safety.

WGS is increasingly helping public health and regulatory authorities detect foodborne disease outbreaks, identify their sources and distinguish between closely related microorganisms. However, wider industry adoption still depends on overcoming technical, legal, regulatory and reputational concerns, as well as building the expertise needed to interpret results effectively.

The paper highlights broader lessons that are equally relevant to food authenticity: the value of robust analytical evidence, reliable traceability, harmonised approaches and the responsible sharing of data. [Refer also the 2021 Guidance note on NGS applications for food authenticity testing published by Defra’s Authenticity Methodology Working Group.]

Most importantly, it reinforces that complex food-system risks are best addressed through collaboration between industry, regulators, public health bodies and academia.

Read the paper: Whole Genome Sequencing for Food Safety | SSAFE Knowledge Paper

The Food Standards Agency and Food Standards Scotland have published a new horizon-scanning report examining the food innovations most likely to shape regulatory and food-safety priorities in the UK over the next 5–15 years.

Technologies including precision fermentation, cellular agriculture, molecular farming, controlled-environment agriculture and 3D food printing offer exciting opportunities but they may also create new challenges for food authenticity, traceability and consumer confidence.

The report highlights the growing importance of robust analytical methods, clear product identity and specifications, transparent supply chains, accurate consumer information and collaboration between regulators, industry and researchers.

Preparing early will be essential to ensure that innovation is supported by the evidence, controls and assurance needed to maintain trust in the food system.

Read full report here.

This is the second FAN analysis this month, as the latest  EU Agri-Food Suspicions report, for June 2026, has followed in quick succession from the May 2026 report.  You can read all of the reports here.  

As well as a marked increase in the absolute number of suspicions recorded, there has been a increasing trend in the relative numbers of suspicions relating to unlicensed trade or import (top-right green bubble).  These primarily relate to products of animal origin but not exclusively - they include anything from biscuits to noodles.  There were sometimes clear food safety risks - ranging from diversion of unfit meat, to harvesting from shellfish beds that had been closed due to algal toxin outbreaks, to repurposing of seeds (which could be pesticide-treated) for food use.

Unlicenced trade is often accociated with document or certification fraud.  There were at least 3 suspicions of foods claiming an incorrect establishment license number.

Other suspicions that caught my eye:

• a continuing trend of "traditional" meat & seafood frauds - particularly bulking of frozen products with water, or bulking of processed foods such as sausages and kebab meat
• one case of a "natural" beetroot colour ingredient being, in fact Reactive Red 198

The report also flagged 3 cases of packaged foods being seized because the picture image was misleading (i.e. a more "premium" food than actually contained).  FAN have not included this category in our analysis, but it is a reminder to all food manufacturers that their label compliance checks must include the entire artwork, not just the ingredient declaration and nutritionals.

These EU AgriFood Suspicions reports are only one information source, presenting one approach to estimating fraud frequency.  There are many other approaches, each looking at different data for different purposes.  An overview can be found on FAN's "Incident Trends" page.

 Our interpretation of the Agrifood suspicion reports is subjective. In order to show consistent trends we have excluded cases which appear to be unauthorised sale but with no intent to mislead consumers (e.g. unapproved food additives, novel foods which are declared on pack), we have excluded unauthorised health claims on supplements, and we have excluded residues and contaminants above legal limits.  We have grouped the remaining incidents into crude categories.  Our analysis is intended only to give a high-level overview

This retail survey (open access) tested samples of chips (crisps), mayonnaises and salad dressing that claimed to be manufactured with either olive oil or avocado oil.  Retail samples were purchased in California in 2025 and 2026.  Because the authors had no access to the raw material specifications for each samples, they used the more generic FAME and sterol profile criteria from Codex Alimentarius Standard for Named Vegetable Oils and Olive Oil and Olive Pomace Oils (CXS 210-1999; CXS 33-1981) which are intended to encompass expected natural variability, and they also added an arbitrary 10% tolerance to account for confounding ingredients in the recipe and for processing changes.  They also produced their own model chips and mayonnaise as controls.

They report that:

• Forty-eight out of 54 avocado oil-labelled products were inconsistent with authentic compositional ranges.
• One out of 20 olive oil-labelled products were inconsistent with authentic compositional ranges.
• Fatty acid and sterol profiles identified compositional deviations.
• Key fatty acid and sterol authenticity markers remained largely unchanged during laboratory frying and emulsification.

Photo by Emiliano Vittoriosi on Unsplash

Seeds are an essential input into organically-certified agriculture but their specification is sometimes unclear and their verification difficult.  They must be produced under organic (or at least sustainable) conditions, for a minimum of one generation, in the case of annual crops, and two generations in the case of biennial and perennial crops.  “Agroecological” seeds, not just those certified as organic, may be suitable depending upon the view of the Certification Body.

This review (open access) discusses the specifications and requirements for seeds used to raise certified Organic crops.  It lists characterisation differences with conventional seeds that have been proposed for different crops and the hypothesised causes of these differences (for example, higher glucosinolate levels in organic brassica seeds due to plant defence mechanisms in low-input systems).  It discusses all of the uncertainties and compounding factors such as genetic, regional and climate variations, and the development of chemometric classification models.

The authors collate state-of-the-art knowledge on organic seed production, including agronomic, regulatory, and market traits. They synthesize major analytical approaches to assess organic seed authentication, highlighting the potential of intrinsic compositional features through fingerprinting strategies as complementary tools from the traditionally used techniques based on physicochemical and physiological parameters (e.g., vigour, germination, purity).

They conclude that there is still a challenge in the practical application of academic research. The use of holistic approaches, such as omics, is limited by costly instrumentation and complex data processing. Advancing this field requires translating these findings into accessible tools by using the identified markers.  

Photo by Wolfgang Weiser on Unsplash

There is already a “failure to prevent fraud” offence in the UK Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (ECCTA).  If a senior manager commits an offence then the company/organisations also commits the offence in the eyes of the law.  A “senior manager” can be anyone who’s role gave them the authority and autonomy to act in the illicit way they did; it is not limited to particular job titles in the organogram or hierarchical seniority.  However, there is a “due diligence” defence for the company if they have a strong anti-fraud compliance programme in place. 

If food fraud prosecutions are brought under the UK Crime and Policing Act enacted last month, however, there are important differences

• It applies to companies of any size (unlike the ECCTA which is limited to larger companies)
• There is no “due diligence” defence
• It includes offences conducted outside the UK

Although there is no “due diligence” defence, evidence of a strong compliance programme is still essential as this will inform the decision of whether it is in the public interest to prosecute.  Other mitigation advice echoes best practice in food fraud defence but with a more internal focus.  Companies should assess their internal vulnerabilities in terms of who in the organisation has the authority, autonomy, motivation and opportunity to commit fraud “on behalf of” the company.

Taken from an article by Osborne Clarke LLP – read the full article here.

Photo by Bermix Studio on Unsplash

The Authenticity Methodology Working Group (AMWG) evaluates scientific research developed within the UK Department of Agriculture, Food & Rural Affairs’ Food Authenticity Research Programme, ensuring methods developed are robust and advising on the wider application of methods.

This webpage  provides a summary of the group’s work in 2025. All have been previously reported on FAN but the annual summary is a useful collation with links to individual project reports.  They include advice on research projects:

• Bottled water sampling: 3^rd country spring water vs bottled drinking water
• Offal detection and speciation in meat products
• British heritage sheep meat traceability system:
• Honey NMR database
• New testing methodology for honey authentication
• Methods for oil authentication

It also includes the committee’s consultation response to proposed research on measuring folic acid in flour and authenticating alternative proteins.

You can find the annua summary here.

National Food Crime Unit (NFCU) industry update: July 2026 

NFCU updates include key risks affecting the food industry, practical steps to strengthen your response to food crime and updates on our current priorities.

In this edition: 

• Middle East Conflict – Supply Chain Concerns
• Distribution Fraud – Risks and How to Protect Your Business
• NFCU Support in Swansea Council Kebab Prosecution
• NFCU attend the EFF-COP Authentic Food Festival and Conference
• NFCU Engages Farming Community at Royal Three Counties Show

Read full update here and subscribe here.

In this study (open access), three insect species approved for human consumption in the European Union (Acheta domesticus, Locusta migratoria, Tenebrio molitor), along with six additional species with potential for legitimate or fraudulent use in the food industry (Blaptica dubia, Gryllus assimilis, Hermetia illucens, Schistocerca gregaria, Schelfordella tartara, Zophobas morio), were analysed using liquid chromatography – trapped ion mobility spectrometry – time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Reference samples were obtained directly from breeders and were cooked.

The authors identified characteristic amino acid sequences for each species and genus, enabling taxonomic differentiation. Depending on the insect species, 30–684 characteristic markers and 30–651 species-specific markers were identified.

As a proof of concept, the marker panel was subsequently applied to the screening of 60 commercial insect-based food products to verify their declared species composition. Insect species were successfully identified in all analysed products, including samples containing as little as 7% (w/w) of declared insect ingredient.

The authors conclude that the proposed method is promising as a rapid, accurate, and reliable screening tool for the authentication of edible insect species in food matrices.

Photo by Srihari Reddy Arumalla on Unsplash

This study (open access) set out to assess the use of portable Near Infra-Red (NIR) spectroscopy as a screening tool for spice authentication, with subsequent confirmation by FT-IR  The authors recommend pre-defined decision points, meaning that samples for laboratory confirmatory testing could be selected based on the results of widespread screening tests rather than based (as present) on fraud risk-ranking or audit findings.

The authors tested the approach using market surveys of oregano and cinnamon.  Of 39 oregano samples, 7 screened suspect by NIR, 1 of which subsequently confirmed as non-compliant by FT-IR.  Of 27 cinnamon samples, 17 screened suspect by NIR, or which 12 confirmed non-compliant by FT-IR.  There were no non-compliant samples that that failed to be flagged as suspect by the NIR screen.

Photo by Anju Ravindranath on Unsplash

The latest EU Agri-Food Suspicions report, for April 2026, has been published here.  FAN produce a rolling 3-month graphic to visualise the relative prevalence and trends in the main issues.    I always read through the full report to pick out any subjective impressions not reflected in a numerical analysis.  This month there seemed to be a return to more "traditional" forms of fraud - meat quality or substitution in kebabs, sausages, salami and pate, or substitution of expensive nut ingredients (pistachio in baklava) with cheaper (peanut) - a clear allergy risk.  There is too little data to prove a causal link to general economic pressures but this is certainly one hypothesis.  Bulking up the weight of frozen seafood with excessive glaze and water always features highly.

The EU AgriFood Suspicions reports are only one information source, presenting one approach to estimating fraud frequency.  There are many other approaches, each looking at different data for different purposes.  An overview can be found on FAN's "Incident Trends" page.

 Our interpretation of the Agrifood suspicion reports is subjective. In order to show consistent trends we have excluded cases which appear to be unauthorised sale but with no intent to mislead consumers (e.g. unapproved food additives, novel foods which are declared on pack), we have excluded unauthorised health claims on supplements, and we have excluded residues and contaminants above legal limits.  We have grouped the remaining incidents into crude categories.  Our analysis is intended only to give a high-level overview

This study (purchase required, GBP£29.95) set out to improve the confidence in discriminatory models between Arabica and Rustica ground coffee.

The researchers pooled Arabica (n = 41) and Robusta (n = 21) samples from different origins and prepared in-house “calibration” mixtures.

They compared alternative approaches for processing data obtained by nontargeted ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to high-resolution tandem mass spectrometry analysis of in-house control Arabica/Robusta mixtures

They report that the most accurate results were obtained by targeted extraction of a set of five ions corresponding to kahweol palmitate, kahweol linoleate, 16-O-methylcafestol palmitate, 16-O-methylcafestol linoleate, and 16-O-methylcafestol stearate. Tthe first two compounds were identified as markers of Arabica and the latter three of Robusta using multivariate statistical models constructed in the first phase of the study on an authentic coffee sample set. This compared favourably with the most common approach currently used by laboratories of classification based on 16-O-methylcafestol quantification.  Using this latter approach, more than 60% of the in-house control coffee mixtures did not meet the preset accuracy criteria.

Photo by Andrea Tummons on Unsplash

In this study (purchase required, USD$31.50) the researchers propose a combination of three galloylated flavonol glucosides, quercetin-(galloyl)-glucoside, myricetin-(galloyl)-glucoside, and kaempferol-(galloyl)-glucoside, as origin-specific geographical markers for Ceylon black teas

They identified these markers by untargeted analysis of reference samples of various tea types.  They used quantitative UHPLC-DAD-Q-TOF-MS-based color-oriented metabolomics to systematically characterize the critical compounds associated with the bright-red infusion colour of Ceylon black tea and to further identify potential geographical markers for its authentication.

They report that five representative grades of Ceylon black tea differed in leaf appearance, but all produced bright-red infusions. Ceylon black teas  undergo a relatively low degree of enzymatic oxidation, resulting in higher catechin contents and lower levels of theaflavins, thearubigins, and theabrownins. Untargeted colour-oriented metabolomics with orthogonal partial least squares regression analysis screened and identified 85 key low-molecular-weight compounds associated with infusion colour, some of which were further screened for geographical markers in Ceylon black tea, resulting in the three main candidate markers.

Their discriminatory performance was verified in an independent set of newly purchased black tea samples by targeted quantification using UHPLC-QQQ-MS/MS, followed by principal component analysis, which enabled clear separation of Ceylon black teas from black teas of other origins.

Photo by Jocelyn Morales on Unsplash

In February and June 2026, the Global Alliance on Food Crime (GAFC) held its first two quarterly virtual meetings of the year, bringing together member agencies from across the Alliance. Discussions focused on opportunities to raise awareness of the GAFC and its remit, while strengthening collaboration to address the evolving threat of food crime. 

The meetings also explored opportunities for closer collaboration with the Food Authenticity Network (FAN), whose open-access platform helps share knowledge and promote greater awareness of food authenticity and food crime prevention. The GAFC is grateful to FAN for hosting a dedicated GAFC page, which provides a platform to share updates on the Alliance's work. 

The work of the GAFC continues to strengthen the exchange of timely information and intelligence across multiple jurisdictions, supporting a coordinated international response to food crime. The next quarterly virtual meeting is scheduled for September 2026.

 To find out more about the GAFC, please contact the Secretariat at GAFC.Secretariat@aff.gov.au.

This update has also been posted to FAN's GAFC page.

The FAN Annual Highlights 2025 is now available in five languages.

Download your language of choice:

• Arabic
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Please send to your contacts and remind them that it is free to become a member of FAN and receive our Monthly Summaries of global news & events related to food fraud prevention.

Thank you!

FAN Executive Team

This study (IAFP membership or purchase required) investigated whether there are environmental (i.e. non-adulterations) explanations for foreign tuna DNA in canned tuna.  It was prompted by reports that DNA of undeclared tuna species had been found in cans labeled as skipjack. Only one species of tuna is allowed in a can sold in the European Union if the muscle structure of the tuna is visible.

Previous reports had identified environmental DNA (eDNA) from various Thunnus and other species in the ocean and on the tuna catcher vessels and further tracked to the first stage of raw tuna processing in tuna canning (thawing).

The authors built on this work to further investigate if eDNA can be found in other parts of the cannery supply chain during tuna processing in the stages after thawing.

They collected 99 samples from raw/frozen and unfrozen tuna, precooked tuna, and retorted (heat preserved) tuna.  A total of 225 DNA analyses were performed on these samples using Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) methods and Sanger sequencing, real-time PCR and NGS-SBS.

They report that DNA fragments from other tuna species are present during tuna harvesting and processing operations. They suggest that eDNA from various Thunnus and other species could be found at multiple levels of the cannery processing chain.

They conclude that their results highlights the drawbacks of using traditional DNA barcoding for the purpose of detecting fraud or mislabeling with retorted canned tuna. They present  mitigation measures for solving the problem of multiple species of muscle meat in tuna products during the canning process.

Photo by Dillon Lobo on Unsplash

Traditional PCR methods for detecting species adulteration in buffalo milk are both highly sensitive and non-quantitative, and therefore cannot distinguish incidental trace-level contamination from intentional fraudulent adulteration at commercially relevant concentrations.

To address these limitations, researchers in this study (USD $24.95 purchase required)  developed a point-of-use quantitative, and amplification-free detection platform that directly correlates signal intensity with the degree of adulteration. Their approach utilizes the strand displacement activity of Bst DNA polymerase to enable target-probe hybridization without target amplification, in conjunction with a colloidal gold lateral flow strip (LFS) for visual readout and portable quantification. Two single-stranded DNA probes were designed, a gold nanoparticle-conjugated reporter probe and a biotin-labeled capture probe, to specifically hybridize with the buffalo mtDNA D-loop region. Bst DNA polymerase facilitates this process by unwinding the double-stranded mtDNA via strand displacement. Crucially, by omitting dNTPs from the reaction, all amplification is prevented. They report that this design eliminates the risk of aerosol contamination from amplification. Following hybridization, the mixture is applied to a lateral flow strip. The complexes migrate by capillary action, and biotin-streptavidin binding at the test line captures them to form a visible red band.

They report that, when using a portable reader, the colorimetric signal exhibits a strong linear correlation with the fraction of buffalo milk in adulterated samples, with a detection limit of 10% (v/v).