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This review (open access) analyses trends in reported food fraud incidents over the past 5 years and trends in detection technologies, particularly the integration of AI and digital traceability and detection systems with analytical testing.  The authors base their analysis on the EC Joint Research Centre monthly collation of food fraud media reports.

The authors highlight that food fraud is a worldwide issue, but its incidence is unevenly distributed across countries. A few countries account for a disproportionate share of reported cases. Notably, Italy has the highest number of food fraud incidents, with over 300 cases. India, and Pakistan also rank in the highest quintile, each reporting well over 150 cases. These three countries alone represent the upper 20 % bracket of fraud occurrence globally. A second tier of countries, including Spain, Brazil, Bolivia, Malaysia, Colombia, and Argentina, report a few dozen cases each.  This skewed distribution suggests that detections of food fraud are concentrated where high-risk products, and active enforcement intersect.

The authors conclude that igrating AI-based predictive analytics with traditional and emerging lab methods significantly improves fraud detection, while blockchain and Internet of Things (IoT) innovations enable secure, real-time tracking of food authenticity. These technologies collectively strengthen the ability to uncover fraud

The paper emphasizes the need for interdisciplinary collaboration, harmonization, and updated regulatory frameworks to support the adoption of these multi-disciplinary approaches.

The FAN Annual Highlights are now available in French, Spanish, Arabic, and Chinese, making them accessible to a broader global audience. This document showcases the main activities undertaken by FAN over the past year and presents the key outputs and achievements that marked its progress.

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.

The UK Parliamentary Committee on Environment Food and Rural Affairs published their latest report on border checks of imported meat earlier this month.  The report is driven by biosecurity and disease control concerns but is also relevant to illegal food trade.

The Committee is critical of the organisation and effectiveness of biosecurity checks currently in place in UK ports, and of a lack of central co-ordination.

They report that responsibility for tackling illegal meat imports is divided across Government departments, enforcement agencies and local authorities. They found no strategic approach coordinating efforts and no leadership figure spearheading operations. This has been the case under successive governments. 

The committee's view is that the stated UK approach of “intelligence led checks” obscures the reality on the ground: a limited and incomplete intelligence network, strained enforcement capability, and port facilities unsuitable for seizing significant volumes of potentially contaminated meat

It is the Committee’s view that the UK has avoided recent disease outbreak from illegally imported meat by luck rather than design.

This study (open access) tested 119 commercial products of insect flour, composite food and animal feed using two DNA-based methods, real-time PCR and metabarcoding, to check whether the insects claimed on the packaging were actually present.

The headline result is that 50% of the products contained insect species not listed on the label, or lacked the species that were declared. The detailed results are explained within the article and there are not always clear-cut interpretations (particularly for feed, where – for example -  it is not illegal to fail to declare all protein species within a pet food recipe).  However, some trends were clear.

• Many producers are unspecific about species identification, using general terms such as “cricket” which do not differentiate between legal and non-legal species
• Cross-contamination between different insect species is endemic
• Regulatory test methods (PCR) are not fit to tell whether the banned practice of rearing insects on substrate containing meat/bone has been used (because the method will also detect, for example, permitted animal-derived substrates such as egg shell)

The authors conclude that traceability and cross-contamination control needs to be improved in this nascent industry, before insects become mainstream, to avoid loss of public trust.

It is notoriously difficult to collate fraud incidents in order to track trends and prioritise generic risks by either food commodity or country.  One of the more useful free tools for the past 10 years has been the monthly EU Joint Research Centre (JRC) collation of fraud media reports.

The JRC have just launched a searchable front-end for their database of reports.  It allows filtering by commodity, country, fraud type and other key criteria.

The JRC collation is just one of the incident databases available.  It must be remembered that different databases collect different information, in different ways, and therefore show a different angle on the true picture.  All of these sources are signposted on FAN.  Best practice is to use a combination of all sources, but the final critical question is “how vulnerable is my own supplier”.

• JRC – These are solely media reports.  They exclude cases not in the public domain, and can be biased by shocking but highly localised incidents in local food supply within poorly regulated countries.  For the past few years, FAN member Bruno Sechet has produced a useful infographic based on each month's data
• EU Agri-Food Suspicions – These are solely EU Official Reports, and only suspicions.  The root cause of each incident is unknown.  The data include pesticide residues above their MRLs.  FAN produce our own infographic on a rolling 3-month basis.
• Food Industry Intelligence Network Fiin SME Hub – These are aggregated anonymised results from the testing programmes of large (mainly UK) food companies.  The testing programmes are targeted and risk-based, not randomised, and the fraud risks within the suppliers of large BRC-certified retailers and manufacturers may be different than the companies supplying small manufacturing businesses or hospitality firms

Many testing laboratories also supply their own customers with incident collations, and there are many commercial software systems that scrape reports from the internet.  All collect and treat the data slightly differently.  FAN produce a free annual aggregate of "most adulterated foods" from three of the commercial providers, which gives very high level smoothed data.

 A new JRC study reveals cases of fraud and non-compliance with the food safety legislation in cinnamon sold at EU retailers. 

As part of the European Commission efforts to fight fraud in the herbs and spices sector, JRC scientists used four in-house developed innovative screening methods to detect and identify possible fraudulent practices. 

They went beyond identifying the substitution of Ceylon cinnamon the most valuable variety, with cassia, a cheaper and less aromatic alternative, and identified other likely types of substitution, investigated compliance with existing European legislation and international standards. The analysis involved  104 cinnamon samples – 44 of which were labelled as Ceylon cinnamon – purchased at retailers in 10 EU countries, and in the UK, Serbia and Sri Lanka.

Over 66 % of the samples analysed failed to meet international quality standards, were non-compliant with EU food safety legislation, suspected of fraud, and/or potentially exceeded the legal coumarin limits. Coumarin is a natural aromatic compound found in cassia and other plants, potentially toxic for liver.

The results of the investigation can help the scientific community and policy makers to set threshold values for the different cinnamon components, and to define when to consider a sample as suspicious. This will allow to undertake a more detailed surveillance and help competent authorities take action.

In 2023, cinnamon was the fifth most imported spice in the EU following ginger, paprika, pepper and turmeric; with cinnamon demand expected to grow over the next years, cinnamon is an attractive target for fraudsters.

Read full article.

This report from Coalition for Fisheries Transparency members the Environmental Justice Foundation and Open Seas finds that UK consumers may unknowingly be buying seafood linked to illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing and human rights abuses.  The report highlights that the frequency with which catch certificates are checked has fallen dramatically following the UK’s exit from the EU.  It points to the high volume of UK imports originating from countries which are seen as high risk of IUU fishing and catch traceability fraud, including consignments likely to be Russian catches routed via 3^rd countries in order to avoid sanctions.

The undeclared forced (chemical) ripening of fruits usually is not seen as a high fraud risk by large retailers with systematic supply chains.  It is a much higher risk in domestic supply to local markets in the countries where the fruits are grown.  In some cases, illegal use of ripening chemicals can put consumers at risk.

The Nigerian federal government sees the issue as a high priority has vowed to sanction those involved in food adulteration and forced fruits ripening in markets. They have run recent regional one-day sensitisation programmes on Forced Ripening of Fruits, Adulterated Palm Oil, Contaminated Meat and Grains.

Media coverage of one of the regional education events can be found here.

The authors of this study (purchase required) propose a radio frequency (RF)-based sensing method that operates in the 6.22 GHz frequency range as a method to authenticate edible oils. In order to obtain a return loss below -10 dB within the desired frequency range, their sensor makes use of a microstrip patch antenna with triangular slots and a microfluidic channel that has been adapted by parametric variations.

They tested the concept with in-house preparations of olive oil which were then adulterated with increasing quantities of coconut and mustard oils.  Results were correlated with GC-MS.  They report that the sensor's measured sensitivity for identifying oil adulteration is 0.18, and conclude that this demonstrates proof of concept for using an RF sensor as a quick method of verifying vegetable edible oils.

In this study (open access) the researchers proposes using a MALDI-ToF and LC-Q-ToF dual approach, following trypsin digestion, as a method to verify fish species.  Trypsin digestion breaks the proteins down into peptides, and they used peptide fingerprints to identify peptides that were unique markers for specific species. The advantage of their approach over DNA methods, and in comparison to MALDI-ToF-MS analysis of undigested proteins, is that it can be applied to complex and heat-processed samples.

The study aimed to differentiate six fish species—carp, mackerel, pike, pollock, salmon and trout. Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization–time ff flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) was employed to identify characteristic species-specific m/z values to differentiate raw and cooked fish meat. Additionally, liquid chromatography–electrospray ionization–quadrupole–time tf flight (LC-ESI-Q-TOF) was used to determine specific amino acid sequences in carp and salmon, selected as model species.

Two or more distinct species-specific m/z markers were identified for all six fish species, enabling their differentiation in both raw and processed form. A slightly larger list of distinct markers were found for cooked, compared to raw, fish.  In carp and salmon, hundreds of peptide sequences were detected, leading to the identification of a panel of peptide markers that determine both the fish species and the type of meat processing. The results confirm that mass spectrometry-based proteomic approaches can serve as effective tools for the authentication of fish meat.

The authors conclude that it is possible to use two complementary mass spectrometry techniques for reliable and rapid authentication of fish species. By focusing on peptide-level markers and leveraging accessible tools, they believe that the approach offers a cost-effective and innovative alternative for fish meat authentication.

Isothermal amplification techniques offer an alternative to “classical” PCR and are more suitable to point-of-use technology.  For a general overview, see FAN’s analytical method explainers.  Recent advances have enabled the development of microfluidic chip platforms, which integrate micro-scale channels, pumps, chambers, valves, and sensors onto a single substrate for fluidic control. This integration enables simultaneous sample pretreatment, component separation, detection, and biochemical analysis on a single platform.

Recombinase polymerase amplification (RPA) is an isothermal method that has gained attention due to its low instrument dependency, high sensitivity, and rapidity. RPA reactions can be conducted at near-ambient temperatures (37–42 °C) within 20 minutes, and results can be interpreted via fluorescence signals or lateral flow dipstick by incorporating sequence-species probes. The exo probe, typically 46–52 nucleotides in length, is widely used in real-time RPA detection. The design of primers and exo probes in RPA assays offers potential for seamless integration with microfluidic chip platforms.

In this study (purchase required) the researchers integrated RPA into a microfluidic chip to develop an assay for identifying commonly marketed codfish species prone to adulteration: Atlantic cod (G. morhua), sablefish (A. fimbria) and toothfish (D. eleginoides and D. mawsoni).

They reported that the assay demonstrated high specificity and sensitivity, with detection limits of 10 copies/μL recombinant plasmid or 10³ fg/μL genomic DNA. Application to 141 commercial seafood products resulted in 100 % identification accuracy for the three target species, and revealed a 32 % inconsistency between product labels and genetic identities, involving substitutions with Pacific cod, pollock, and other species.

They conclude that on-chip RPA assay offers a rapid, high-throughput, and reliable tool for seafood authentication and potential mislabeling surveillance.

Photo by Patrick Boucher on Unsplash

In this recorded conversation (open access), Karen Constable (Director, Authentic Food) and John Points (Technical Director, FAN) discuss the role of analysis in a modern fraud prevention strategy. 

Our conversation ranges across topics integral to FAN including:

• tools in the toolkit of food fraud prevention and mitigation best practice
• when and where to use testing within that toolkit,
• how to select a test that is fit for purpose,
• how to find a laboratory that can meet your needs,
• how to interpret the significance of results
• what action to take on "suspicious" results. 

The discussion is particularly focussed on free or low-cost resources that are of practical use to Small and Medium Enterprises in the food sector, and practical steps that SMEs can take to reduce the chance of falling victim to fraud.  We signpost lots of resources that are freely available, including the new Food Industry Intelligence Network's SME Hub.

Detecting the mislabelling of thawed meat as fresh meat has been an analytical challenge for many years.  The most established technique, based on measuring the HADH enzyme (see FAN method explainers) is not perfect.

This paper (purchase requires) reports the development of an assay based on a different biochemical marker enzyme for the detection of previously-frozen pork The authors proposed mitochondrial citrate synthase (CS) as a candidate biomarker enzyme, and developed an ELISA to measure CS and test their hypothesis.

For the development of sandwich ELISA, polyclonal antibodies (pAb) against CS were produced in two different laboratory animals (rabbits and guinea pigs). A sandwich ELISA was optimized by utilizing rabbit anti-CS pAb as capture and guinea pig anti-CS pAb as detection antibody,  The limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) of the sandwich ELISA were calculated to be 3.71 ng/ml and 11.24 ng/ml, respectively. The sandwich ELISA was having 100.78 ± 1.66 % of accuracy, and the assay was found to be having good repeatability as well as reproducibility. The assay showed a good storage stability up to 12 weeks of storage at refrigeration temperature (4 ± 1 °C).

The authors report that there was a statistically significant difference between results from fresh/chilled and frozen/thawed pork meat.

Photo by patrick le on Unsplash

International Food Policy Research Institute's (IFPRI) 2025 Global Food Policy Report examines the evolution and impact of food policy research and assesses how it can better equip policymakers to meet future challenges and opportunities.

The 2025 Global Food Policy Report takes a sweeping view of the past half-century, reviewing the evolution of both policies and policy research, highlighting lessons learned, and presenting key considerations for addressing the challenges and opportunities of today and tomorrow. Policies play a key role in advancing food systems and the health of all people and the planet. While many factors influence policymaking, evidence-based food policy research is crucial for informing policy choices, policy implementation, and policy adaptation.

Crime is mentioned in relation to challenges for adaptation as is the need for food value chains to be resilient to 'shocks' including rising cybercrime.

Read synopsis or full report.

Considering recent market developments and the growing risk of fraudulent practices in the fruit juice sector, the International Fruit and Vegetable Juice Association (IFU) has released this updated information to safeguard industry integrity and consumer trust.

The combination of reduced crop volumes, price volatility, and increasingly sophisticated methods of deception—including misleading specifications, falsified documentation, and the use of AI-generated promotional materials—has heightened the vulnerability of the global juice supply chain. By providing timely guidance and reinforcing compliance expectations, we aim to prevent adulteration and ensure that only authentic, safe, and high-quality juices reach consumers worldwide.

Supplier verification and laboratory testing to ensure compliance with international legislation and food safety standards is key. IFU recommends the following tools to prevent adulteration:
1. IFU Methods: The IFU offers a range of analytical methods and recommendations to detect adulteration. These are some examples:

• IFU 58 - Determination of Hesperidin and Naringin HPLC (2005) to determine different citrus.
• IFU 59 - Determination of Total Carotenoids and Individual Groups (2008) to distinguish orange from mandarin.
• IFU 71 - Anthocyanins and Betalains by HPLC (2023) to compare typical anthocyanin profiles.
• IFU R03 - The Use of Isotopic Procedures in the Analysis of Fruit Juices (2020) to detect different types of adulteration in juices
• IFU R17 - How to estimate the juice content of juice-based drinks and nectars (2025) to estimate juice content accurately across a wide range of juice-based beverages and nectars.
• IFU R18 - The Use of DNA Methods in the Analysis of Fruit Juices, Purées & Concentrates (2013) to detect adulterations in low levels.

More information: List of all IFU Methods - International Fruit and Vegetable Juice Association. 

2. AIJN Code of Practice (CoP): The AIJN CoP provides guidelines for the authenticity and quality of fruit juices, ensuring that products meet established standards in Europe and other areas.

3. SGF/IRMA Approval: Purchasing from SGF/IRMA approved suppliers ensures that raw materials are authentic and comply with industry standards.
More information: Voluntary Control System.

4. Regulatory Frameworks: Adherence to Codex Alimentarius, EU regulations, FDA standards, and national food laws is essential to maintaining industry credibility.

Also, feel free to contact IFU Technical Director Aintzane Esturo at aintzane@ifu-fruitjuice.com.

This UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) 'Food for Thought' seminar breaks down key findings based on FSA project FS900408 Guidance for Point Of Contact Technologies.

Industry experts Malcolm Burns and Gavin Nixon of the National Measurement Laboratory present results from a current review of the potential for point of contact technology for food testing for both official controls and the wider food sector. They provide an overview of key terms, technologies, trends and barriers to adoption, and provide recommendations to further develop a framework to support point of contact food testing.

This seminar has been added to the eSeminars section of FAN's training pages.

FSA’s monthly Food for Thought seminars share insights from FSA and external research on topics relevant to the food system. Each session features a presentation followed by a Q&A. Recordings of previous seminars are available to watch back on the FSA’s YouTube channel.

The seminar series is open to all - if you’d like to receive future invitations, please sign up to the Food for Thought mailing list. 

Cold-pressed fruit seed oils from blackcurrant, raspberry, and strawberry are gaining market share and – as relatively high value oils – are potential targets for adulteration. This study (open access) used identified 28 triacylglycerides (TAGs) as significant markers for distinguishing the 3 oils.  These were identified from chemometric analysis of full tryglyceride profiles.  Triglycerides were measured by ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography/quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Lipidomic analysis identified 215 glycerides in the three oils. Chemometric analysis revealed that TAG profiles were superior to diacetylglyceride (DAG) profiles for oil differentiation and detecting adulteration. OPLS-DA identified 28 TAGs as significant markers for distinguishing the three oils.

The authors reported that comparison of glyceride profiles of pure and adulterated samples demonstrated that adulteration with 5 % or more sunflower or rapeseed oil could be detected. Targeted metabolomic analysis using specific markers for sunflower oil confirmed adulteration in raspberry and strawberry commercially purchased fruit seed oils.

Photo by Stan Slade on Unsplash

Are you involved in detecting or preventing food fraud?

We are conducting a research study under the European Food Fraud – Community of Practice (EFF-CoP) to collect current knowledge, systems, and technologies used globally to combat food fraud. Your input will support the development of a shared database, which will be available in EFF-HUB for researchers, regulators, and industry professionals.

If you work in:
• Official control
• Food businesses
• Academia or research
• Certification bodies
• Laboratories
• Technology and innovation in food integrity
We would value your contribution in a series of three short questionnaires (15–25 minutes each):
• Research Questionnaire 
• Practices and Approaches Questionnaire 
• Innovations Questionnaire 

Please take part and complete the questionnaire(s) by 4 November 2025 for a chance to win €20 Amazon gift cards! 

Please share with colleagues or peers.

Thank you for supporting this collaborative initiative.

Atlantic salmon in processed food is prone to substitution with cheaper species of similar appearance such as rainbow trout, chum salmon or masou salmon.

In this paper (open access) the authors developed a sensitive and visual PCR-based CRISPR/Cas12a detection method to identify Atlantic salmon ingredients in processed foods. A guide RNA (gRNA) was designed based on the mitochondrial genome of Atlantic salmon, with an efficient target site identified within the ATP synthase F0 subunit 6 (ATP6) gene.

Specificity was tested against 9 other species commonly associated with Atlantic salmon adulteration.  There was no evidence of cross-reactivity. 

The authors report that theirassay exhibited an absolute detection limit of 0.5 pg and a relative sensitivity of 0.1 %. The results were visually interpretable under UV light without the need for complex instrumentation. They cross-checked their results through Sanger sequencing during the authentication of commercial products.

Photo by Natalia Y. on Unsplash