The Food Standards Agency's National Food Crime Unit (NFCU) has published a video on the types of food crime you might come across and how to report it.
The NFCU and partners tackle food crime every day to make sure food is safe to eat and is what it says it is.
NFCU colleagues work closely with the food industry to ensure that businesses are well-informed and prepared so they know how to spot food crime and stop it.
UK Hospitality has published a Catering Industry Guide to Good Hygiene Practice that mentions food fraud and food crime for the first time.
The industry guide to good hygiene practice provides information on legal obligations for caterers and the practical requirements to comply with food hygiene law. The guide also offers advice to operators on good practice, which although is not a legal requirement, is likely to contribute to the overall achievement of food safety and customer satisfaction.
The guide has been developed by the food industry and is recognised by the Food Standards Agency and Food Standards Scotland, in accordance with Article 8 of Retained Regulation (EC) No. 852/2004.
The updated version of the guide includes four new sections:
An E-copy is free to download, you can access it here
A printed copy is available at a cost of £25 + postage for UKH members, and £35 + postage for non-members. To order your printed copy, please complete your details here
Isotope ratio data are increasingly used in a variety of fields including, ecology, marine sciences, earth and geosciences, forensic science, hydrology, medicine, food (including food authenticity and origin), and climate science.
Over the years, there have also been changes to guidelines for measurement methods, calibration conventions and even to international measurement standards that form the base of the traceability chain for isotope delta values for H, C, N, O and S.
It is impossible to combine isotope ratio data from a variety of sources unless the data are accompanied by a clear description of traceability and other method details.
The UK National Measurement Laboratory at LGC was part of an international group that compiled the IUPAC Technical Report presenting minimum requirements for reporting isotope ratio data, covering analytical procedure, traceability, data processing and uncertainty evaluation.
This report will help in the standardisation of methods that involve the measurement of stable isotopes.
Read the IUPAC Technical Report on minimum requirements for publishing hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen and sulfur stable-isotope delta results.
Since the pandemic, almost 40% of us order takeaway food through an app or online. Some 170,000 food businesses are on three of the biggest online platforms, Just Eat, Uber Eats and Deliveroo. They have significant reach across the takeaway, restaurant and food-to-go sectors.
These three online platforms, supported by the FSA, have developed a new Food Safety Charter. The Charter commits them to make sure businesses selling food through their platforms are registered with their Local Authority and meet a minimum standard under the Food Hygiene Rating Scheme (FHRS). The Charter also commits them to use their communication channels to businesses and customers to share FSA hygiene and safety information and support those with food hypersensitivities.
This initiative is a great starting point for FSA's work with online platforms and it believes it will improve compliance of food businesses with minimum standards. FSA is working to ensure food is safe wherever you buy it, and the Food Safety Charter is an example of the FSA following our guiding principle of working with and through others to protect consumers.
If you have any thoughts on regulating online food sales, FSA would be really interested to hear them in the comments section of this blog.
At the 1996 World Food Summit, the Heads of State and Government reaffirmed the right of everyone to have access to safe and nutritious food, consistent with the right to adequate food and the fundamental right of everyone to be free from hunger (World Food Summit,1996). To achieve this commitment, agrifood systems will need to be transformed to sustainably deliver safe and nutritious food for all.
This publication from the Food and Agriculture Organization explores a selection of the most relevant drivers and trends identified through the FAO food safety foresight programme. While for some of the drivers and trends the food safety implications are apparent, for others these may not be as obvious. An overview of the various drivers and trends are discussed for the following selection of emerging areas of interest, as identified through the FAO food safety foresight programme:
Read full report.
This new article by our Advisory Board Member, Dr John Spink, provides a summary of the past year and drills into lessons learned and best practice recommendations.
The article can be summarized as: “The crux of the last year of supply chain management is that our problems have shifted from ‘known knowns’ to ‘unknowables.’” What I mean by this is that previously we could expect similar types of supply chain disruptions. Now, between the lingering COVID impact, the Ukraine-Russia repercussions, plus other stressors, we’re seeing many completely new and unexpected types of problems.
Read full article.
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has updated its areas of research interest (ARI) to include a focus on food that is healthier and more sustainable.
FSA has added four new ARI that reflect the updated priorities in their 2022-2027 strategy: that food is safe; is what it says it is; and is healthier and more sustainable. The update includes revising the overarching research themes and the addition of four new ARI. The updated ARIs are:
JRC has published its monthly summary on articles covering food fraud and adulteration. In this issue, there are articles on frauds involving:
Read the full summary at: August 2022 JRC Food Fraud Summary
High performance liquid chromatography and high-resolution mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS) was used to identify gelatin from seven commercial cyprinid fishes;, black carp, grass carp, silver carp, bighead carp, common carp, crucian carp, and Wuchang bream.
By comparison with theoretical mammalian collagen (bovine and porcine collagen), the common and unique theoretical peptides were found in the collagen of grass carp, silver carp, and crucian carp, respectively. Seven common characteristic peptides were obtained from the fish gelatins. Moreover, 44, 36, and 42 unique characteristic peptides were detected in the gelatins of grass carp, silver carp, and crucian carp, respectively.
The researchers concluded that the combined use of common and unique characteristic peptides could verify fish gelatin in comparison with mammalian gelatin.
Read abstract.
Yellow fruit varieties of tomatoes attract a premium price in many Mediterranean countries, particularly the landrace of Pomodorino giallo del Vesuvio (“GiaGiù” or E40).
The aim of this work was to phenotypically and genotypically distinguish the GiaGiù landrace through morphological descriptors and molecular markers, in order to provide an effective tool to authenticate this product as fresh and processed tomatoes.
The distinctive traits of GiaGiù were the potato leaf morphology and the pyriform shape with a pointed apex of the yellow fruits. The genotypic distinction of E40 was performed by using two Cleaved Amplified Polymorphic Sequence (CAPS) markers designed on a Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) of the Phytoene synthase 1 (psy1) gene that confers the yellow color to tomato fruit and already known as specific of GiaGiù genotype. Additional CAPS markers were designed on two private mutations of E40 genes derived from data retrieved from a Genotyping-By-Sequencing (GBS) dataset, already available.
These findings were confirmed by comparing E40 private mutations with the 360 accessions of the BGI tomato 360 genomes resequencing project. The designed markers allowed the researchers to distinguish GiaGiù in all fresh and processed fruit tomato matrices tested, providing a molecular tool to authenticate GiaGiù products.
Read abstract.
Authorities in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan are using a mobile testing laboratory to check the authenticity of milk sold in local shops.
They have recently identified and destroyed more than 2,000 litres of milk diluted with water or adulterated with other chemicals and have closed a number of dairy shops.
Read full article.
In this study, the Thermo Scientific™ NGS Food Authenticity Workflow was used to analyse spices and herbs.
Reference samples were analysed to verify the specificity, and spikings down to 1% (w/w) allowed verification of its sensitivity including in complex mixtures of five different spices and/or herbs.
272 commercial samples were collected in Asian and European markets. 78% of the commercial samples were compliant with the declared content, whereas the rest were shown to contain undeclared species that were in a few cases allergenic or potentially toxic.
The researchers conclude that the overall workflow is user-friendly and straightforward, which makes it simple to use and facilitates data interpretation.
Access abstract.
Photo by Ratul Ghosh on Unsplash
Photo by Alice Pasqual on Unsplash
According to the current food legislation in Bulgaria, dried herbs are classified under the large group of food supplements and their trade is allowed in pharmacies, drugstores and grocery stores.
Researchers sampled 103 dried herb food supplements on sale in Bulgaria and analyses them using macro- and microscopic tests.
They found that the majority of samples failed to meet specification and that there was widespread adulteration and foreign body contamination. 17.5% of samples contained species which are prohibited for consumption due to their pyrrolizidine alkaloid content.
This work implies the need for strengthening control of herbs and spices.
Read the full paper.
Shellfish harvesting is highly regulated in most countries, including the UK. Harvest areas are opened or closed by regulatory authorities depending on water quality and potentially toxic algal blooms. Illegal harvesting from closed areas puts consumers at risk as they can carry E coli, norovirus or be contaminated with high levels of toxic chemicals.. It is a perennial problem and previous incidents have involved large-scale organised crime.
A recent crackdown by authorities (the council, Sussex Police, Food Standards Agency, National Food Crime Unit, Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority and Gangmaster Labour Abuse Authority) on the English South Coast led to the seizure of illegally harvested shellfish.
This case was part of Operation Pearl and involved months of covert investigations had taken place to understand how the illegally harvested shellfish were reaching food businesses and consumers.
Read the full article.
A three-dimensional paper-based microfluidic device has been designed and fabricated to simultaneously detect multiple chemical adulterants in milk using a visual colourimetric indicator.
It is intended as a quick and cheap screening test for use in developing countries.
The authors propose that it could be used by consumers to check milk before consumption.
It was shown to detect urea, detergents, soap, starch, hydrogen peroxide, sodium-hydrogen-carbonate, and salt which had been added to milk at concentrations between 0.05% and 0.2% v/v.
Access paper.
Photo by Eiliv-Sonas Aceron on Unsplash
This paper reviews recently published Chinese research to highlight the recent advances of isotope ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS) as a regulatory and verification tool for Chinese food products. It covers more than 100 IRMS research papers that use up to 5 light stable isotopes (3C/12C, 2H/1H, 15N/14N, 18O/16O, 34S/32S) as authenticity markers, combined with chemometric models.
The range of food products include organic foods, honey, beverages, tea, animal products, fruits, oils, cereals, spices and condiments that are frequently unique to a specific region of China.
The authors conclude that - compared to other food authenticity and traceability techniques - IRMS has been successfully used to characterize, classify and identify many Chinese food products, reducing fraud and food safety problems and improving consumer trust and confidence.
Access article.
A volatile organic compound (VOC) analysis method has been developed to distinguish human remains from animal species in forensic cases and to identify the species of remains after disaster accidents.
Seven animal species, plus human, were investigated. Some VOCs had high species specificity, demonstrating that all tested muscle tissue samples could be distinguished based on different VOCs. HS-GC-IMS proved to be a rapid, high-throughput, high-sensitivity and specific species identification method. The authors propose that the technique could also be applied to food authenticity testing to verify meat species.
Access article.
JRC has published its monthly summary on articles covering food fraud and adulteration. In this July issue, there are articles on frauds involving:
Read the full summary at: July 2022 JRC Food Fraud Summary
The Government Chemist plays a crucial role in the UK’s food and feed system in both its statutory and advisory capacities.
The data we get is vital for the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) to demonstrate the social, economic and industrial impact of the Government Chemist.
So if you have used the services of the Government Chemist (anything from Referee Analysis (food safety, food authenticity,advice etc.), Advice, Training materials, Publications, Events, Attendance at meetings etc.), please complete a short (10 mins max) impact evaluation survey: https://tinyurl.com/4737nv42
Thank you to all those people who have already completed the survey and thanks in advance to anyone that will complete the survey now. We really appreciate you taking the time to provide feedback.
An e-seminar covering issues surrounding the use of CBD in food supplements and difficulties likely to be encountered in their analytical testing has been published.
It aims to help manufacturers, suppliers and laboratories understand the issues surrounding the use of cannabidiol, more commonly known as CBD, in food supplements and the difficulties likely to be encountered in testing food supplements containing CBD. The manufacture and supply of food supplements are strictly controlled under food laws, it is therefore important to understand what CBD is and how it is regulated in food products. This presentation focuses on CBD, its chemistry in relation to food supplements and regulatory legislation, as well as considering the analytical aspects of measuring CBD in food supplements.
The e-seminar is intended for individuals working in official control laboratories, the food industry and those involved with the UK official control system.
The production of this e-seminar was co-funded by the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Defra, the Food Standards Agency, Food Standards Scotland and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, BEIS via the Government Chemist, under the Joint Knowledge Transfer Framework for Food Standards and Food Safety Analysis.
This e-seminar has also been added to the Food Authenticity Network's Training Section, where 12 other authenticity related e-seminars are available.
