News

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
• Chinese
• English
• French
• Spanish.

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).

China is the largest market for Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) in Asia.

This study (open access) tested the species of 186 “Atlantic Salmon” samples sold at the marketplace and online throughout China.  The researchers used a combination of PCR (using a using a fragment of the mitochondrial 16S ribosomal RNA gene, an adaptor primer, and a 6-nucleotide multiplexing tag) and Next Generation Sequencing.

They report that only 53.76% of these samples were genuinely Atlantic salmon (S. salar).   33.33% were rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), 3.23% were coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch), 1.61% were chum salmon (Oncorhynchus keta), and 8.06% were pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha).. The mislabeling rate of salmon products purchased from online platforms was significantly higher than that from traditional offline stores. There were no significant differences in mislabeling rates among different product categories (fillets/steaks, sushi, and canned processed.

Photo by Fadya Azhary on Unsplash

The Food Standards Agency has published the results of its 2025 testing programme.

They conclude that most of the food tested was safe and authentic, but the survey did reveal some labelling and authenticity failures in Dubai-style chocolate and goat meat products.   The programme targets areas of known or potential risk. Between July and December 2025, 845 products were sampled from national supermarkets, independent retailers and online sellers.  

Dubai-style chocolate 

Only one of the 45 samples of Dubai-style chocolate passed every test and labelling requirement, a finding that prompted the FSA to issue consumer warnings before Christmas 2025.  

Labelling issues were found in 42 of the 45 samples. These included incorrect or missing use-by and best-before dates, allergens not clearly highlighted, ingredients not listed in the correct order and lack of UK importer details. 

Goat meat 

Of the 40 goat meat samples tested, 20 contained only sheep. Another sample contained a mix of sheep and goat meat, and a further sample was found to be wholly deer.    

Slush-ice drinks 

The survey uncovered on-going issues with a small number of slush ice drinks, particularly around glycerol levels and use of glycerol warning posters in shops. 

The programme was delivered in partnership by the three Local Authority Official Food and Feed Laboratories (OLs) and two private OLs in England and Wales. 

A permenant link to the report has been added to FAN's searchable Research database.

The Mexico Ministry of Health (COFEPRIS) have published a non-regulatory guide to the classification of food supplements.

A food supplement must satisfy each of four separate legal requirements in order to be marketed, otherwise it must fall into a different regulatory catetory.

• The General Health Law, which states that supplements must be based on herbs, plant extracts or traditional foods, aimed at complementing the diet, and free of restricted ingredients.
• The Regulation on the Sanitary Control of Products and Services, which incorporates criteria on composition, exclusion of substances with pharmacological action and, especially, strict rules on labelling, prohibiting therapeutic indications or misleading information.  The guide prohibits the marketing of substances with a pharmacological or therapeutic action as food supplements.
• The Decree determining additives and adjuvants in food, beverages and food supplements, their use and sanitary provisions, published in the Official Gazette of the Federation (DOF) on December 15, 1999, and its amendments published on September 5, 2013 and May 16, 2016, and the Decree determining the prohibited or permitted plants for teas, infusions and edible vegetable oils, published in the DOF on December 15, 1999, which delimit the substances that can be used and the specific conditions applicable, including labeling requirements in the case of certain ingredients.

This guide establishes the possibility of using the Herbal Pharmacopoeia of the United Mexican States as a reference in the development of food supplements, since it lists plants and their derivatives that can cause unwanted effects, have interactions with other plants and medications,or can be toxic or allergenic.

This aligns Mexico’s marketing approval regulation more closely with that of Europe, but is a reminder that manufacturers and sellers (particularly online sellers) of supplements and botanicals must be highly cognisant of the specific regulations in each country of sale.

This paper (open access) is an example of the growing trend of “data fusion” from multiple techniques to aid authenticity classification.  Contributing techniques can be extremely simple.  In this case the researchers including Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), which is a routine way to measure the melting point of a solid (or the crystallisation point of an oil).  They combined DSC with GC-MS profiling of fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) to detect adulteration of walnut oil.

The researchers prepared cold-pressed walnut oils in an normal manufacturing setting, in compliance with the Romania legal specification constraints.  They produced binary mixtures adulterated with sunflower oil between 5 – 50 %.

They report that, as the proportion of adulterant oil increased, thermal parameters changed progressively. Samples with 40% and 50% sunflower oil exhibited low crystallisation enthalpy values, reflecting the dominant thermal characteristics of sunflower oil at higher substitution levels. Chemometric analysis demonstrated strong discrimination between authentic and adulterated oils, with support vector machine models achieving complete classification under the conditions of this study.

Photo by Pranjall Kumar on Unsplash

This paper (open access) draws on previous cost of crime frameworks to develop a model specifically for food fraud in the UK. The novel features of the model are its use of ‘crime scheme’ as the unit of analysis and the introduction of ‘market cost’, the impact of illicit supplies on the legitimate market. The analysis estimates that the annual economic cost of food fraud in the UK is between £ 0.4 billion and £ 2 billion.

The conclusion of this analysis is that the UK food industry suffers a low rate of fraud relative to other industry sectors.  The authors argue that collective action by the food industry has created an overlapping framework of quality controls that squeezes out fraudulent products and creates a significant barrier to entry for unethical businesses and rogue traders.

This estimate chimes with a previous estimate by the Food Standards Agency.  These, and other estimates of the global cost of fraud, can be found on the "Cost of Food Crime" tab on our Food Crime page.

Photo by Jp Valery on Unsplash

We are delighted to welcome Purity-IQ as a Partner of the Food Authenticity Network (FAN)!

Purity-IQ is an ISO/IEC 17025-accredited laboratory specializing in the development of advanced scientific tools and certification programmes that help verify product authenticity, strengthen supply chain transparency, and protect consumers. Through its innovative technologies and commitment to rigorous scientific standards, Purity-IQ supports organisations around the world in ensuring the integrity of food, beverage and natural health products. 

We are grateful to Purity-IQ, and all our Partners, for supporting FAN's mission to provide independent, open-access information, guidance and practical tools to stakeholders worldwide. Together, we are helping to protect consumers, strengthen supply chains, and build confidence in the global food system.

If you are interested in partnering with FAN and supporting this sector-wide, open-access food fraud prevention resource, please contact us at Secretary@foodauthenticity.global.

The Global Alliance (GA) is a coalition of international leaders who have agreed to work together on the prevention, detection and disruption of food crime.  

In December 2025 representatives from the United Kingdom’s Food Standards Agency and Food Standards Scotland, and New Zealand’s Ministry for Primary Industries travelled to Sydney Australia where they were hosted by the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) in progression of the Global Alliance on Food Crime (GAFC).  Joined virtually by representatives from the US Food and Drug Administration and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (who endured the lengthy late-night discussions due to time zones), the group discussed progression of current joint activities and continuing collaboration in line with the GAFC Strategic Objectives. 

During the two-day event, DAFF accepted the roles of Chairperson and Secretariat from Ron McNaughton of Food Standards Scotland who has carried this responsibility since 2021. The GAFC membership would like to acknowledge Ron’s contributions over the years, and the enduring support provided by Food Standards Scotland. Ron continues in his membership position within the GAFC providing support and guidance to the new Chairperson, Murray Bell (left in photo). 

Following the GAFC event, DAFF showcased their regulatory capabilities focused on the department’s Imported Food Inspection Scheme, and broader biosecurity/agricultural remit, which included presentations from the Australian Border Force and Australian Federal Police / INTERPOL. The group obtained an enhanced understanding of Australia’s operating environment.

The Global Alliance on Food Crime page on the FAN website has also been updated with member country information.

The GAFC can be contacted by emailing GAFC.Secretariat@aff.gov.au

Food Standards Scotland (FSS) are recruiting a Chief Scientific Advisor.  The details of this prestigious, senior, independent role can be found here

This three day per week role is envisaged as a 2 to 5 year secondment.

FSS’s CSA is an outward facing role, with responsibility for representing FSS’s use of science and evidence to key stakeholders, the media and public, including during incidents. It will promote and champion the work of FSS’s scientists; supporting learning and development and driving engagement across the wider scientific community and the food industry, to maintain and strengthen FSS’s reputation as a highly regarded science and evidence-based organisation.

The closing date for applications  is 14 July.

Imagine arriving at a food fraud conference and being handed not only a programme of scientific sessions, but also an invitation to solve mysteries, escape from a fraud room, watch films, play games, listen to music, and debate from the perspective of a fraudster.

That was the experience awaiting participants at the 1^st Authentic Food Festival & Conference (AFFC), organised by the EFF-CoP, in Dublin on 27–28 May 2026.

More than 130 participants from 18 countries travelled to University College Dublin to take part in an event that challenged traditional conference formats and reimagined how food authenticity can be discussed, explored, and experienced.

From the moment attendees entered the venue, it was clear that this would not be a typical scientific gathering. Posters filled the lobby, conversations sparked instantly between researchers and industry representatives, and participants found themselves choosing not only between conference sessions but also escape rooms, mini-laboratories, film screenings, workshops, and serious games.

The festival opened with a keynote from Professor Alan Reilly, who reflected on the horsemeat scandal that transformed food fraud from a niche topic into a major policy concern across Europe. 

But perhaps the most anticipated moment of the morning was the lively "Food Fraudsters vs Fighters" debate, moderated by Professor Chris Elliott. The room was divided between two opposing sides, each challenged to defend a position that many participants would not normally support. What followed was a thought-provoking discussion that demonstrated just how complex and interconnected food fraud issues have become.

As the day unfolded, attendees explored food fraud from perspectives rarely encountered at traditional conferences. Sessions examined how neuroscience can help explain dishonest behaviour, how trade data can reveal illicit activity within supply chains, and how lessons from anti-corruption programmes can strengthen fraud prevention efforts. These discussions reminded participants that food fraud is not an isolated problem - it is part of a much wider landscape of economic crime, human behaviour, and organisational decision-making.

Meanwhile, across the venue, participants became active contributors rather than passive listeners.

Some entered the "Escape the Fraud Room", working together under pressure to solve authenticity-related puzzles before time ran out.

Others visited the Mini Lab, where they gained hands-on experience with cutting-edge authentication technologies, including portable spectroscopy, DNA-based species identification tools, and innovative analytical platforms.

For many attendees, it was a rare opportunity to interact directly with technologies that are shaping the future of food authenticity testing.

Film screenings offered another perspective. Through documentaries exploring honesty, whistleblowing, and ethical dilemmas, participants were encouraged to reflect on the human stories behind fraud and the individuals who choose to challenge it. 

Yet one of the most remarkable aspects of the AFFC was its willingness to blend science with creativity.

In the "Food Fraud Orchestra" workshop, participants explored data sonification—the transformation of scientific data into sound. Later that evening, the conference transformed into the "Science in Tune Café", where discussions on olive oil authenticity and Irish whiskey shared the stage with live musical performances. Researchers, students, regulators, and industry representatives exchanged ideas not only in conference rooms but also over food, music, and conversation.

The second day continued this spirit of innovation and collaboration. Sessions focused on real-world food fraud stories, practical  analytical challenges, and emerging authentication technologies. Early-career researchers engaged with experienced professionals during a dedicated workshop on career development, while others participated in "Dirty Money", a serious game designed to explore how unethical decisions emerge and how they can be prevented. 

25 scientific posters showcased research from across the food authenticity landscape, covering topics ranging from honey and olive oil authentication to consumer trust, risk assessment, and emerging analytical methods. The diversity of topics reflected the increasingly multidisciplinary nature of food fraud prevention.

However, the true success of the festival cannot be measured solely by numbers, sessions, or activities. What made the AFFC special was the atmosphere. The event created a space where experts could challenge assumptions, where students could engage directly with leaders in the field, and where new collaborations emerged naturally through shared experiences. The barriers that often separate disciplines, sectors, and organisations seemed noticeably lower. At its core, the festival demonstrated a simple but powerful idea: fighting food fraud requires more than analytical methods and regulations. It requires people. It requires trust. It requires dialogue. And above all, it requires community.

The Authentic Food Festival & Conference was created to bring together the growing European Food Fraud Community of Practice. By the end of two inspiring days in Dublin, it was clear that the community had done far more than simply meet. It had come alive. As participants returned home carrying new ideas, new partnerships, and new friendships, one question could be heard repeatedly throughout the closing conversations: "When is the next one?".

What we can share with you, is that the next one will be held in Greece, in 2027!

Visit Home | EFF-CoP or the FAN EFF-CoP page for further information about the project.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is Canada's leading authority on food fraud oversight.

This report summarizes the work that the CFIA did to prevent misrepresented food from being sold in Canada between April 1, 2024, and March 31, 2025, unless otherwise indicated.

Here's what the work included:

• Running awareness campaigns that reached thousands of people.
• Participating in international activities aimed at preventing fraud before it reaches our borders.
• Completing several research and method development projects.
• Testing 886 samples for authenticity, in 2 categories:
  • 246 marketplace monitoring samples (also referred to as targeted surveys).
  • 640 targeted inspectorate samples.
• Performing 362 label verifications, including basic label verifications and net quantity verifications.
• Taking enforcement action that prevented over 150,000 kg of misrepresented food from being sold in Canada.

Overall, compliance rates were similar to previous years. These are the highlights of the results:

• There was an increase in the compliance rate for grated hard cheese authenticity testing.
• Olive oil had the lowest compliance rate for authenticity testing, whereas fish, fruit juice, maple syrup and meat had the highest.
• Grated hard cheese, fish and other expensive oils had the lowest compliance rates for label verifications, while organic fresh fruit and vegetables and other foods had the highest.

Read the full report here.

It is fantastic to see the GLOBAL ALLIANCE ON FOOD CRIME page on FAN referenced in the report.

The Joint Research Centre of the European Commission has published its latest collation of food fraud incidents.  Your can find the report here.  These are drawn from global media reports, so give a different perspective to the monthly EC "Agri-food suspicions" (which are drawn from regulatory reports).

The JRC reports are used to populate a searchable application, which can be used to visualise trends by food commodity or by country of origin.

Links to these EC resources, plus other tools and resources that draw trends from food fraud incidents, are included on FAN's new Incident Trends Hub.

We are pleased to launch a new webpage that provides navigation to some of the many tools and reports (both open-access and commercial software) that collate reported food fraud incidents and suspicions, draw trends, insights, and make future predictions.

Most of these tools were already signposted on FAN but we hope that the new hub explains some of the differences (all tools collect data in different ways, for different purposes, and give different insight) and makes it easier for you to navigate.  The hub also includes our own reports and summaries and those provided by our Partners for the benefit of FAN members; you must be logged on as a member to access this section.

You can access the new hub here.  We hope you find it useful.  Please let us kinow your feedback (you can e-mail, or leave a comment on this blog) and let us know any other tools you know of that should be included.

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 new 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.