(UN)Sustainable adulteration

In July this year, the Transnational Alliance to Combat Illicit Trade (TRACIT) and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) got together to assess the impact that food adulteration has on the seventeen established UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development-goals/).

One of the tools used to achieve the SDGs is the expansion of international trade, which in the past has been seen to fuel economic growth and reduction in levels of hunger. The drawback, of course, is an increase in food adulteration and other fraudulent activities across the food and beverage sectors.

Adulteration – and, indeed, all illicit trade in the agri-food sector – has many faces, but is consistently found in the form of food fraud, i.e. the deliberate and intentional substitution, addition, tampering or misrepresentation of food, food ingredients, or packaging; false or misleading statements made about a product for economic gain; or the smuggling of agricultural products, which creates a gap for unfair trade. These in turn have several ripple effects in terms of economic impact, and pose potential food safety-related risks in terms of disease control.

Fraudulent activities occurring in the agri-food sector have a direct effect on six out of the 17 SDGs:

1. They undermine SDG 1 for ensuring no poverty, by negatively impacting economic development.
2. They disrupt food security and sustainable food production, and therefore undermine SDG 2, for no hunger.
3. Food adulteration or substitution jeopardises SDG 3, which focuses on the good health and well-being of people, by exposing consumers to harmful and unsafe food.
4. Food fraud introduces food safety issues, which have a harmful effect on brands and so have a direct effect on jobs and revenues; which goes against SDG 8, for ensuring decent work and economic growth.
5. Through market destabilisation, consumers’ choices are taken away from them, because they cannot afford to make eco-friendly and sustainable food choices; resulting in an inhibition of SDG 12, for ensuring responsible production and consumers.
6. Profits from fraudulent activities breed corruption, thus undermining SDG 16, which focuses on peace, justice and strong institutions.

Who is most at risk of experiencing the consequences of fraud?

Of course, illicit trade or food fraud happens everywhere, and is not totally selective as to who it picks as a victim. However, it has been seen that people living in developing countries (such as our own) are most at risk; specifically, those communities of the lower LSM groups.

This is because they often have limited access to safe, healthy and affordable food, and because there is limited education about the fraudulent activities encountered in the supply chains of foods that these consumers can afford to purchase.

The effects of food fraud are many and severe, ranging from long-term exposure to toxic compounds to the immediate health risks from undeclared or unlabelled ingredients that may cause an allergic reaction – not to mention the negative economic impact.

Whose ‘problem’ is it, anyway?

If you are a food producer who has elected to implement an FSSC- or BRC-based food safety system, it has become your ‘problem’. However, mitigating fraud is often seen as just another annoying thing to have to do for an audit, a ‘ticking the box’ exercise. While indirectly this will contribute positively to ensuring that food produced for consumers is safe and wholesome, there needs to be a mindset shift in the food industry.

UNCTAD says that collaboration between governments, the private sector and NGOs is required to at least decrease the level of fraud found in the food industry. However, it is important to note that mitigation of fraud is not regulated or well enforced by our government as yet; most small to medium food producers – along with restaurants – do not have an FSSC- or BRC-based food safety system, and so do not take into consideration all of the vulnerabilities and risks that may be present in their supply chain.

This places the consumer at risk of consuming food that is unsafe or of inferior quality.

What can be done?

As individuals working in the food industry, we must all adopt critical thinking, and ask: how can I ensure that the food we make here is good and safe?

There are several actions that could aid you – as a worker, a business owner or a product developer – to mitigate food fraud. One is to adopt rigorous supplier approval and audit programmes, thus really getting to know your suppliers and where your food ingredients come from. Another is to develop a due-diligence testing regime, to check that the raw materials used in your products are from a reputable source; or perhaps to research what vulnerabilities your raw materials face, via incident or horizon scanning.

FACTS can help you work towards a more sustainable future, by assisting with all the above – and more.