The nonprofit US Pharmacopeial Convention (USP) increased its food fraud records by 800 new cases, approximately 60 percent more incidents than was previously documented. Whereas the previous set examined cases from 1980 to 2010, the new cases were mainly from the past two years.
Poring over published journals and media, the USP searches for additions, substitution, tampering, misrepresentation, or misleading in food industries. The organization seeks to make food safer for the world through their watchdog vigilance.
Familiar products in food fraud were olive oil, milk, saffron, honey and coffee. Some new items to top the list were tea, fish, clouding agents and black pepper.
Jeffrey Moore, USP scientific liaison and analyst, called the list “just the tip of the iceberg” in terms of deception in the food industry.
Technology and protocol for monitoring food safety is still not able to detect many of the cases that happen. More investment and research into the field is needed to make headway for greater transparency and accountability worldwide.
A well-known example was the melamine scandal that brought to light widespread use of harmful additives in Chinese dairy milk for the sake of boosting product scores in testing. Similarly, other products are tampered with to improve their visual appeal and appearance of freshness. Palm oil, juices, jams and other foods can be mixed with phthalates like DEHP, which have potential cancerous properties and affect children’s body development.
Seafood is often mislabelled to skirt regulations by masquerading as less-stringently monitored varieties of fish.
The USP’s database growth can be due to greater advancement in technology and communication since the turn of the millenium. It remains to be seen if the data can be leveraged quickly enough to make the world’s food safer.
