The EC Monthly Reports of Agri-Food Fraud Suspicions reports are a useful tool for estimating fraud incidents, signposted on FAN’s Reports page. They can be found here.
FAN produces rolling 3-month graphical analysis. In order to show consistent trends we have excluded cases which appear to be unauthorised sale but no intent to mislead consumers of the content/ingredients of a food pack (e.g. unapproved food additives, novel foods), 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 subjective, intended only to give a high-level overview.
One clear signal in July is the (unwelcome) return of undeclared dyes and colours - the large purple bubble top-centre of the chart. 3 of these cases are Sudan dyes in spices, an issue that has been bubbling for over 20 years. But 3 are relatively new - green dye in pistachio paste, which is linked to the current regulatory watch-out of Dubai chocolate.
Our main takeaway message continues to be that industry risk-assessment too often focusses on specific ingredients as "high risk". In actual fact, it is the TYPE of fraud that is consistent; falsification of traceability or health documents/certification, illegal import, bulking out more expensive ingredients with cheaper ones. The affected ingredients or products vary. This suggests that risk assessment should focus more on motivation and opportunity in the supply chain, and less on "counting RASFFs".
The EC Monthly reports are only one source of information. A comparison of the many different information sources now available is given in an earlier blog this week.
