Food Fraud Trending in 2020
Food fraud has been around for over 200 years; and the more connected we become through social media and web-based media platforms, the more incidents of food fraud come to light. It would indeed be a great advantage if we could have a magical crystal ball to give an exact indication of food fraud incidents that will occur in the future; in reality, we must rely on retrospective data and statistical reports.
Product development trends 2020 and possible avenues of fraud
As we enter a new decade, there have been several new product development trends – including the use of Agtech, as well as the creation of smaller-portion foodstuffs designed for solo-living individuals, to minimise waste.
However, some new trends (and the resultant products) may be susceptible to new opportunities for fraud; and with our current economic state in South Africa, fraudulent activities are likely to increase. Examples of what fraud may occur in 2020 based on these trends are detailed in Table 1 below.
Other emerging trends, and trends continuing from last year, include alternative-protein-source foodstuffs, the use of exotic ingredients in food, the creation of sustainable choices, and the integration of botanicals that serve to calm the increasingly stressed-out consumer.
Looking back at the last year and decade…
In 2019, Decernis reported that globally, the ingredients most associated with incidents of fraud were beef, ghee, liquor, milk, spices and wine. These ingredients were mostly from India and Pakistan. Interestingly, there were minimal incidents of food fraud reported in South Africa last year. From a global perspective, the top 10 ingredients of the decade associated with incidents of food fraud are depicted in Figure 1 below:
Along with the trends described above, based on the collated data indicated in Figure 1 we can expect similar fraudulent activities on these specific ingredients to continue into 2020. Another trend that may continue to increase in 2020 is the illicit selling of counterfeit or fake foodstuffs.
After the listeriosis crisis in 2018, a government-based initiative was started in communities – particularly in the informal sector of the food supply chain – to attempt to combat food-safety issues. What was discovered was a multitude of ‘fake’ or counterfeit food and alcohol being sold to consumers, and as a result, some goods were seized and businesses shut down.
This does not only occur in the informal sector. 2019 saw formal-sector food markets that extended use-by dates on chicken – which is not only a form of fraud, but places the consumer at risk in terms of food safety.
A saving grace for the formal sector is the prerequisite for manufacturers for retailers and the food-service industry to have extensive food-fraud mitigation programmes in place. However, this comes with its own set of challenges; it may be difficult to see all the possible vulnerabilities that may occur throughout the supply chain at any given time, and it is an arduous task to update the risk assessment every time something changes.
FACTS has developed a tool to assist companies with tackling the challenges faced when managing the mitigation of food fraud.
For more information on food-fraud trends and the mitigation of food fraud, please contact us.