With news of scams relating to the COVID-19 pandemic emerging on an almost daily basis, it is imperative that companies maintain and even step up efforts to secure their brands.
That’s the message from the UK’s cross-industry Anti-Counterfeiting Group (ACG) in its latest annual report, which says that while business may be struggling to contend with the coronavirus emergency “they more than ever need their brand protection workforces to help protect consumers and their company’s vital asset.”
“Criminal counterfeiters are in manufacturing overdrive,” says ACG director general Phil Lewis, adding they are working overtime to manufacture and stockpile counterfeits, ready to sell them once the heath crisis abates.
Read full article.
IFST has brought together a COVID-19 Advisory Group, which includes our scientific staff and some of our experienced members. The COVID-19 Advisory Group are actively assessing the impact of COVID-19 - signposting to credible resources created by others, and generating additional complimentary IFST knowledge resources for consumers, members and organisations throughout the food chain. These are uploaded onto the IFST COVID-19 Knowledge Hub which is free to access.
The COVID-19 Advisory Group are working closely with our IFST member communities, other professional bodies and external Government to equip everyone with best advice at this time.
Meet the COVID-19 Advisory Group https://www.ifst.org/covid-19-advisory-group:
Chair: Chris Gilbert-Wood (also Chair of IFST Scientific Committee)
Members: Ivan Bartolo, Sue Bell, Julian Cooper, Sterling Crew, Sam Jennings, Alex Kent, Andy Kerridge, Peter Littleton, Louise Manning, John Points, Denis Treacy, Peter Wareing.
And from the IFST Team: Natasha Medhurst and Rachel Ward.
Access the COVID-19 Knowledge Hub here: https://www.ifst.org/covid-19-knowledge-hub
The COVID-19 pandemic is impacting not only food trade, food supply chains and markets but also people’s lives, livelihoods and nutrition.
The FAO has published a collection of policy briefs, which present a qualitative and quantitative assessment of the pandemic’s impacts on these areas:
Briefs are released on a day-to-day basis. Please check back frequently for the latest available FAO briefs.
As the novel coronavirus pandemic shuts down businesses globally and sends countries into lockdown, the disruptions are threatening to cut off supply chains and increase food insecurity.
"Supermarket shelves remain stocked for now," the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) said in a report released late last month. "But a protracted pandemic crisis could quickly put a strain on the food supply chains, a complex web of interactions involving farmers, agricultural inputs, processing plants, shipping, retailers and more."
The issue, however, is not food scarcity -- at least, not yet. Rather, it's the world's drastic measures in response to the virus.
Border closures, movement restrictions, and disruptions in the shipping and aviation industries have made it harder to continue food production and transport goods internationally -- placing countries with few alternative food sources at high risk.
Airlines have grounded thousands of planes and ports have closed -- stranding containers of food, medicine, and other products on tarmacs and holding areas, said the UN Conference on Trade and Development on March 25.
Heightened instability in global food supply will affect the poorest citizens most, warned the UN's Committee on World Food Security (CFS) in a paper last month.
Even private companies and organizations have called for immediate action to address the looming food catastrophe.
"Governments, businesses, civil society and international agencies need to take urgent, coordinated action to prevent the COVID pandemic turning into a global food and humanitarian crisis," said an open letter to world leaders from scientists, politicians, and companies like Nestle and Unilever.
Read full article.
Following the outbreak of Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19), BSI has considered how it can actively support and contribute towards the collective efforts in mitigating the potential risks caused by this global health issue amongst the UK business community.
It reviewed the information available to it and as a result, BSI has worked with international standards organizations to make these standards accessible for the purposes of organizations that are involved in the UK COVID-19 response.
Continuity and Resilience
Risk Management
Community Resilience
Emergency Management
These standards offer information and practical advice for businesses and individuals, which help the business community navigate the challenges and potential risks associated with the current global crisis.
BSI will constantly be reviewing the situation in order to ensure that we are working with businesses in the most effective and supportive way in these extraordinary times.
Plant-based products are on the rise. Consumers are increasingly interested in eating a plant-based diet, as is evident by a surge in sales of these types of products internationally. According to a report by Health Focus International in 2018, 17% of consumers in the U.S. aged 15 to 70 to eat a predominately plant-based, while 60% report to be cutting back on meat-based products.
Plant-based refers to products that are free from animal-derived ingredients such as the following: additives, carriers, flavorings, enzymes, processing aids and others (or work towards being free of those ingredients). With market trends driving the food industry, brand-owners may be interested in developing new products to meet the demand. This means that suppliers, may be required to provide a site that honour’s brand claims of beingplant-based.
To support businesses to meet this shift in consumer purchasing behaviour, BRC Global Standards has published its first edition of the Plant-Based Global Standard. The Standard is based on a comprehensive management system approach and provides a framework for manufacturers to assist them in the production of plant-based food. It includes operational criteria required to be in place to ensure that plant-based products are free of material of animal origin.
Read Full Article.
The FSA has today published guidance to assist food businesses in responding to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.
The new guidance has been developed with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and covers a range of areas including good hygiene practice, management of employee sickness, and social distancing for specific food business settings.
It is very unlikely that people can catch COVID-19 from food. COVID-19 is a respiratory illness and not known to be transmitted by exposure to food or food packaging.
The FSA is working with the food industry to ensure that businesses know what their responsibilities are and what actions they need to take to maintain safety standards and protect staff during the outbreak.
The guidance can be found on GOV.UK
Overview
Hygiene and Food Safety
Read full update.
The US agencies have issued letters to seven companies, and removed online listings from others, whose products falsely claim to prevent or treat coronavirus.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) have issued warning letters to seven companies for selling fraudulent COVID-19 products that claim to treat or prevent the virus. At current there is no approved prevention or therapy for coronavirus.
According to the agencies, the products being sold are unapproved and pose a significant risk to patient health, as they may be unsafe for consumption and/or stop or delay patients getting necessary medical diagnoses and treatments.
The companies selling these products are violating federal law and may be subject to legal action, including but not limited to seizure or injunction, emphasise the organisations.
Although the process for application to become a Centre of Expertise is open throughout the year, the UK Government has taken a decision to announce a formal call for new applications once a year.
If you think your laboratory can fulfil the AMWG criteria for a Centre of Expertise then please complete a self-assessment evidence proforma, providing evidence of your capabilities, and return to CoE@foodauthenticity.uk by 31 March 2020.
Your application will be processed and discussed with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), and you will be notified of the outcome by the end of May 2020.
Benefits of being a Food Authenticity Centre of Expertise
Background
Following the Elliott review in 2013-14, the UK Government set up the Food Authenticity Network to help bring those involved in food authenticity testing together in a more coordinated way. The Network raises awareness of the range of methods / techniques used to check for mislabelling and food fraud and to ensure that the UK has access to a resilient network of laboratories providing fit for purpose testing to check for food authenticity so that ultimately, consumers can have greater confidence in the food they buy.
Recognising that no one organisation will be equipped with all the necessary expertise in all methods / techniques used in food authenticity testing, and across all of the food commodities, Professor Elliot’s review also proposed the creation of “Centres of Excellence” to cover the different disciplines and techniques involved.
The UK Government’s Authenticity Methods Working Group (AMWG) produced a number of criteria which outlined the type of qualities an organisation offering a particular expertise might be expected to demonstrate to become a ‘Centre of Expertise’. There is an expectation that such organisations should be prepared to engage with and offer support to others in their areas of expertise both within the Network and more widely if required.
In 2015, the UK Government invited organisations working in the food authenticity testing field to consider if they had the expertise, capability and experience expected of a Centre of Expertise and through this process, acknowledged fourteen organisations as Food Authenticity Centres of Expertise.
The European Council has adopted conclusions on further steps to improve ways of tackling and deterring fraudulent practices in the agro-food chain.
In its conclusions the Council recalls that a high level of protection is an overall objective of EU policies concerning health, safety, environmental protection and consumer protection, and recognises that the current EU legal framework on tackling food fraud is adequate.
The Council nonetheless emphasises the need for continuous and improved cross-sectorial cooperation to fight against food fraud. This cooperation should include not only food and feed control authorities, but also authorities involved in the fight against financial crime and tax, customs, police, prosecution and other law enforcement authorities. In relation to this, the Council calls upon the Commission and member states to allocate adequate resources to ensure effective implementation of existing EU legislation by improving the shared understanding of the criteria determining food fraud.
The Council also stresses the need to promote awareness-raising among consumers and to continue to broaden training on countering food-fraud.
Read text of conclusions.text of conclusions
Pork made from plants launched by Impossible Foods
A plant-based pork substitute has been launched in Las Vegas by one of the leading "alternative meat" producers.
Impossible Foods, the firm behind the Impossible Burger, says it hopes to appeal to a global audience with its latest vegetarian-friendly meal, which it unveiled at the CES tech show.
Pork is currently the most widely consumed meat in the world.
The company hopes the product will help it break into China. But one expert said it might find that a challenge.
The first product to feature the foodstuff - the Impossible Sausage - will be available next week at 67 Burger King restaurants in the US, in a sandwich-based dish called the Croissan'wich.
Read full story.
CBD - cannabidiol - isn't marketed as medicinal cannabis. It doesn't have a psychoactive element that makes the user high. Some studies indicate it can help with childhood epilepsy seizures, and other people think it helps them too.
There has been a spike in demand within the last twelve months, according to manufacturers. Non-medicinal CBD is now on sale in High Street shops across the country, including chemists. But the National Pharmacy Association says the products need clearer information and better checks on content.
Cannabidiol oil is being added to a range of products - from water, to chocolate, to make-up, tea and coffee. Manufacturers claim sales in the UK are as much as £300m at the moment.
It's illegal to print any health claims on the products, but it's a grey area as to who checks the ingredients, or the amount of CBD oil actually contained in each product, many of which can be very expensive. CBD is classed as a food supplement, so it's governed by the Food Standards Agency. FSA said it expects "companies to comply with the novel foods process, which includes submitting safety information about their products"."The FSA is considering the best way to ensure CBD food-related products currently on the market move towards compliance," it added.
In the meantime, customers buying any CBD product have no guarantees if the product is safe, or indeed if it contains any CBD oil at all.
The herbal products, sold worldwide as medicines or foods, are perceived as low risk because they are considered natural and thus safe. The quality of these products is ineffectively regulated and controlled. The growing evidence for their lack of authenticity is causing deep concern, but the scale of this phenomenon at the global, continental or national scale remains unknown.
Reserachers analysed data reporting the authenticity, as detected with DNA-based methods, of 5,957 commercial herbal products sold in 37 countries, distributed in all six inhabited continents. The global survey shows that a substantial proportion (27%) of the herbal products commercialized in the global marketplace is adulterated when their content was tested against their labeled, claimed ingredient species. The adulterated herbal products are distributed across all continents and regions. The proportion of adulterated products varies significantly among continents, being highest in Australia (79%), South America (67%), lower in Europe (47%), North America (33%), Africa (27%) and the lowest in Asia (23%).
Read full article.
A US federal bill that would require plant-based and cell-cultured meat products to be labelled as ‘imitation’ meat has been welcomed by beef producers and slammed by plant-based meat advocates, as the row over terminology in the burgeoning space heats up. The bill would mean that any imitation meat product would be deemed to be misbranded unless its label bears the word ‘’imitation’’ as well as a statement that clearly indicates that the product is not derived from or does not contain meat. The term beef would exclude both plant-based and cell-cultured meat from using the term. The bill is aimed at transparency of products to consumers. Read full article.
Michael walker speaks about the Food Authenticity Network at the 3rd MoniQA International Symposium: Food Fraud Prevention and Effective Food Allergen Management in Rockville, MD, USA.
https://rockville2019.moniqa.org/
An introduction to DNA melting curve analysis
This e-seminar, entitled “An introduction to DNA melting curve analysis”, describes the principles behind, as well as best practice guidelines for the application of the post-PCR analytical method of DNA melting curve analysis. The information presented will provide the viewer with a general introduction to PCR-based DNA melting analysis as a method for food authenticity testing, and provide guidance on how to design, implement and analyse PCR DNA melting assay data. Topics covered will include the principles underpinning DNA melting analysis, designing PCR DNA melting assays, examples of PCR instruments compatible with DNA melting analysis, and guidance on troubleshooting. Those who should consider viewing this e-seminar include individuals currently working within the foods molecular testing area, particularly representatives from UK Official Control Laboratories, industry and members of organisations associated with the UK official control network.
View e-seminar here.
The production of this e-seminar was funded by Defra, FSA, FSS and BEIS under the Joint Knowledge Transfer Framework for Food Standards and Food Safety Analysis.
In recent weeks UKAS has become aware of a rising number of counterfeit certificates relating to PPE, making false claims over holding quality standards. The certificate being supplied to provide confidence may appear to tick all the boxes and to meet the required standards, but what can be done to make sure? The simple checks below can be made to validate the certificate, enabling the purchase to be made with confidence.