Adulteration RASFF query
Hi you all,
I am doing my Master's degree final project and I am working in Food Fraud of additives. My problem here is the following one; I am trying to use RASFF to search the episodes of food fraud/adulteration in additives from 2000 to nowadays and the problem is that I only have one result. I have read papers methodologies and I have done the search the same way, but I am not able to get more results. Am i wrong or is this way?
I would be really grateful if someone could help me. Very thanks in advance for your help.
Hi you all,
I am doing my Master's degree final project and I am working in Food Fraud of additives. My problem here is the following one; I am trying to use RASFF to search the episodes of food fraud/adulteration in additives from 2000 to nowadays and the problem is that I only have one result. I have read papers methodologies and I have done the search the same way, but I am not able to get more results. Am i wrong or is this way?
I would be really grateful if someone could help me. Very thanks in advance for your help.
Hi Miguel,
Unsure what your Scope is ? eg Europe, Global ? definition of "additive" ?
Probably need more Googling, eg -
2.1. Food Adulteration Incidents Registry (FAIR) DatabaseA total of 893 incidents reported in the Food Adulteration Incidents Registry Database were reviewed from 1979–2018. FAIR Database is hosted by the US Food Protection and Defense Institute (FDPI) and collates global data on economically motivated adulteration and incidents of deliberate tampering. Users could access information over five years old for free [1,24]. FAIR Database includes both food fraud and food threat incidents (e.g., food tampering incidents associated with extortions, mental illness, malicious and religiously, ideologically or politically motivated intents). Note that only food fraud data and one tampering record (for economic gain purposes) were used in this study. The main difference between FAIR and RASFF databases was RASFF data were mainly food safety issues although it also includes reports of food adulteration. Most of the incidents reported in the FAIR Database were also captured in Decernis Food Fraud Database (previously USP Food Fraud Database)
(NB - Decernis is not free but sometimes IIRC has offered free trials)
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https://ifst.onlinel...2/fsat.3403_4.x
Trello is also often suggested here as a useful free (initially perhaps) Database.
The European Community has an "Knowledge Centre for Food Fraud and Quality"
https://knowledge4po...mary-reports_en
There is no database that can be easily searched. Instead, you have to work through monthly reports.
Hi Miguel,
I'm not at all surprised you can't find food fraud records for food additives.
I created the Food Fraud Risk Information Database hosted on Trello and we don't have a single food fraud incident for any food additive (excluding vanilla extract) in the database. Here's why:
1) A fraud that involves adulteration or substitution would be noticed by the food company quite quickly for most additives. For example, if a fraudster sold you whey powder instead of emulsifier you would realise as soon as you tried to use it. If a fraudster sold you talcum powder instead of preservative, you would find a residue in your product.
2) Because of (1), misrepresentation-type food fraud (eg. "organic" sodium bicarbonate that isn't actually "organic") is more likely to occur than adulteration or substitution fraud for food additives. But those types of fraud are less likely to be noticed at borders or customs checks, and don't cause a food safety risk, so they won't be added to RASFF.
3) Many food additives (excluding flavours) have short(ish) supply chains compared to other food types, which reduces the chances for fraudulent tampering with the product and might make them less susceptible to food fraud than other foods.
4) A food fraud problem in a food additive probably won't result in a food safety problem or a recall, because of the tiny concentrations at which additives are present in finished products. If there is no food safety problem and no recall, then the fraud won't become public knowledge. And therefore won't get into RASFF.
5) Border checks and import alerts make up many (most?) of the RASFF records. It's my understanding that most countries prioritise border inspections for foods that present high risks with respect to food safety. They probably aren't prioritising checks on food additives, because they aren't high risk. And actually most food additives might not even be considered "food" at the point they are crossing borders... many would probably be identified as "food grade chemicals" during transport.
These are the reasons you won't find many records of food fraud in food additives in the RASFF portal.
Miguel, you could try contacting the Food Industry Intelligence Network, which receives confidential information from food businesses about frauds they have discovered. These frauds never get released onto the public record. They might know of some food additive frauds.
Best of luck with your studies
Thank you all for your attention and answers.
Especially, thank you very much, @Karenconstable for your detailed answer, it is very useful for me :spoton:
Best regards!
Hi Miguel,
I'm not at all surprised you can't find food fraud records for food additives.
I created the Food Fraud Risk Information Database hosted on Trello and we don't have a single food fraud incident for any food additive (excluding vanilla extract) in the database. Here's why:
1) A fraud that involves adulteration or substitution would be noticed by the food company quite quickly for most additives. For example, if a fraudster sold you whey powder instead of emulsifier you would realise as soon as you tried to use it. If a fraudster sold you talcum powder instead of preservative, you would find a residue in your product.
2) Because of (1), misrepresentation-type food fraud (eg. "organic" sodium bicarbonate that isn't actually "organic") is more likely to occur than adulteration or substitution fraud for food additives. But those types of fraud are less likely to be noticed at borders or customs checks, and don't cause a food safety risk, so they won't be added to RASFF.
3) Many food additives (excluding flavours) have short(ish) supply chains compared to other food types, which reduces the chances for fraudulent tampering with the product and might make them less susceptible to food fraud than other foods.
4) A food fraud problem in a food additive probably won't result in a food safety problem or a recall, because of the tiny concentrations at which additives are present in finished products. If there is no food safety problem and no recall, then the fraud won't become public knowledge. And therefore won't get into RASFF.
5) Border checks and import alerts make up many (most?) of the RASFF records. It's my understanding that most countries prioritise border inspections for foods that present high risks with respect to food safety. They probably aren't prioritising checks on food additives, because they aren't high risk. And actually most food additives might not even be considered "food" at the point they are crossing borders... many would probably be identified as "food grade chemicals" during transport.
These are the reasons you won't find many records of food fraud in food additives in the RASFF portal.
Miguel, you could try contacting the Food Industry Intelligence Network, which receives confidential information from food businesses about frauds they have discovered. These frauds never get released onto the public record. They might know of some food additive frauds.
Best of luck with your studies
Hi Karen,
Perhaps it depends on how you define food fraud, food additives, etc.
Is the famous melamine incident not in yr database ?
eg -