Economically Motivated Adulteration (EMA) of Food: Common Characteristics of EMA Incidents

2013 ◽  
Vol 76 (4) ◽  
pp. 723-735 ◽  
Author(s):  
KAREN EVERSTINE ◽  
JOHN SPINK ◽  
SHAUN KENNEDY
Keyword(s):  
Food Safety ◽  
Infant Formula ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Disease Outbreaks ◽  
Food Products ◽  
Alcoholic Beverages ◽  
Detection Methods ◽  
Health Concern ◽  
Food Fraud ◽  
Alternative Ingredients

Economically motivated adulteration (EMA) of food, also known as food fraud, is the intentional adulteration of food for financial advantage. A common form of EMA, undeclared substitution with alternative ingredients, is usually a health concern because of allergen labeling requirements. As demonstrated by the nearly 300,000 illnesses in China from melamine adulteration of infant formula, EMA also has the potential to result in serious public health consequences. Furthermore, EMA incidents reveal gaps in quality assurance testing methodologies that could be exploited for intentional harm. In contrast to foodborne disease outbreaks, EMA incidents present a particular challenge to the food industry and regulators because they are deliberate acts that are intended to evade detection. Large-scale EMA incidents have been described in the scientific literature, but smaller incidents have been documented only in media sources. We reviewed journal articles and media reports of EMA since 1980. We identified 137 unique incidents in 11 food categories: fish and seafood (24 incidents), dairy products (15), fruit juices (12), oils and fats (12), grain products (11), honey and other natural sweeteners (10), spices and extracts (8), wine and other alcoholic beverages (7), infant formula (5), plant-based proteins (5), and other food products (28). We identified common characteristics among the incidents that may help us better evaluate and reduce the risk of EMA. These characteristics reflect the ways in which existing regulatory systems or testing methodologies were inadequate for detecting EMA and how novel detection methods and other deterrence strategies can be deployed. Prevention and detection of EMA cannot depend on traditional food safety strategies. Comprehensive food protection, as outlined by the Food Safety Modernization Act, will require innovative methods for detecting EMA and for targeting crucial resources toward the riskiest food products.

scholarly journals Point-and-shoot: rapid quantitative detection methods for on-site food fraud analysis – moving out of the laboratory and into the food supply chain

2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (22) ◽  
pp. 9401-9414 ◽  
Author(s):  
David I. Ellis ◽  
Howbeer Muhamadali ◽  
Simon A. Haughey ◽  
Christopher T. Elliott ◽  
Royston Goodacre
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Food Safety ◽  
Food Supply ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Detection Methods ◽  
Quantitative Detection ◽  
Food Supply Chain ◽  
Food Fraud ◽  
Food Adulteration ◽  
Contamination Events

Major food adulteration and contamination events occur with alarming regularity and are known to be episodic, with the question being not if but when another large-scale food safety/integrity incident will occur.

Insects as vectors of foodborne pathogenic bacteria

2011 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey Blazar ◽  
Marc Allard ◽  
E. Kurt Lienau
Keyword(s):  
Food Safety ◽  
Foodborne Pathogens ◽  
Pathogenic Bacteria ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Disease Outbreaks ◽  
House Fly ◽  
American Cockroach ◽  
Health Concern ◽  
Foodborne Disease ◽  
Salmonella Spp

AbstractFood safety is an important consideration worldwide. To maintain and improve our current knowledge of foodborne disease outbreaks, we must understand some of the more imminent issues related to food safety. A variety of agents are responsible for transmitting the estimated 76 million cases of illnesses caused by foodborne pathogens every year. This review explores why insects pose a serious health concern, in terms of worldwide food safety initiatives, by looking at evidence in published <abs>Food safety is an important consideration worldwide. To maintain and improve our current knowledge of foodborne disease outbreaks, we must understand some of the more imminent issues related to food safety. A variety of agents are responsible for transmitting the estimated 76 million cases of illnesses caused by foodborne pathogens every year. This review explores why insects pose a serious health concern, in terms of worldwide food safety initiatives, by looking at evidence in published literature. We highlight at least eleven different species of insects, including the lesser mealworm, Alphitobius diaperinus (Panzer); secondary screwworm, Cochliomyia macellaria (Fabricius); synanthropic flies [flesh fly, Sarcophaga carnaria (L.); house fly, Musca domestica (L.); fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster (Meigen); and stable fly, Stomoxys calcitrans (L.)], American cockroach, Periplaneta americana (L.); German cockroach, Blatella germanica (L.); Oriental cockroach, Blatta orientalis (L.); Pacific beetle cockroach, Diploptera punctata (Eschscholtz); and Speckled feeder cockroach, Nauphoeta cinerea (Olivier), which act as vectors for Salmonella spp. or Escherichia coli and illustrate how these insects are successful vectors of foodborne disease outbreaks. We propose that insects be considered as one of the latest issues in food safety initiatives. Not only are some insects extremely important contributors to diseases, but now we suggest that more research into insects as potential carriers of E. coli and Salmonella spp., and therefore as contributing to foodborne disease outbreaks, is granted.

scholarly journals Fraud in Animal Origin Food Products: Advances in Emerging Spectroscopic Detection Methods over the Past Five Years

Foods ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. 1069 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdo Hassoun ◽  
Ingrid Måge ◽  
Walter F. Schmidt ◽  
Havva Tümay Temiz ◽  
Li Li ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Analytical Techniques ◽  
Food Products ◽  
Alternative Methods ◽  
Detection Methods ◽  
Animal Origin ◽  
Spectroscopic Techniques ◽  
Food Fraud ◽  
The Past ◽  
Art Research ◽  
Animal Origin Food

Animal origin food products, including fish and seafood, meat and poultry, milk and dairy foods, and other related products play significant roles in human nutrition. However, fraud in this food sector frequently occurs, leading to negative economic impacts on consumers and potential risks to public health and the environment. Therefore, the development of analytical techniques that can rapidly detect fraud and verify the authenticity of such products is of paramount importance. Traditionally, a wide variety of targeted approaches, such as chemical, chromatographic, molecular, and protein-based techniques, among others, have been frequently used to identify animal species, production methods, provenance, and processing of food products. Although these conventional methods are accurate and reliable, they are destructive, time-consuming, and can only be employed at the laboratory scale. On the contrary, alternative methods based mainly on spectroscopy have emerged in recent years as invaluable tools to overcome most of the limitations associated with traditional measurements. The number of scientific studies reporting on various authenticity issues investigated by vibrational spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance, and fluorescence spectroscopy has increased substantially over the past few years, indicating the tremendous potential of these techniques in the fight against food fraud. It is the aim of the present manuscript to review the state-of-the-art research advances since 2015 regarding the use of analytical methods applied to detect fraud in food products of animal origin, with particular attention paid to spectroscopic measurements coupled with chemometric analysis. The opportunities and challenges surrounding the use of spectroscopic techniques and possible future directions will also be discussed.

scholarly journals Risk-Based surveillance as a strategic tool to improve food safety in the russian consumer market

2021 ◽  
Vol 99 (12) ◽  
pp. 1398-1406
Author(s):  
Nina V. Zaitseva ◽  
Irina V. May
Keyword(s):  
Food Safety ◽  
Russian Federation ◽  
Potential Risk ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Food Products ◽  
Epidemiological Studies ◽  
Dynamic State ◽  
Legal Method ◽  
The Russian Federation

Introduction. Protecting consumers’ lives and health in a condition when the number of producers and the variety of food products is continually growing is one of the state’s strategic tasks and the goals of the administrative reform in the Russian Federation. Material and methods. The work uses methods of analysis, synthesis, comparison, and generalization of the existing in international practice methodological approaches and criteria to assess product safety in planning control and supervision activities, assessing the risk of harm to human health, applied the comparative legal method, methods of mathematical modeling and other methods used when searching legal and analytical research. Results. A risk-oriented model of control and supervisory activities for food safety is proposed and tested. The model is built under the general principles of the risk assessment methodology and is based on the analysis of the results of previous checks, studies and trials, data from epidemiological studies and relevant scientific literature. The model assumes three successively implemented stages: the categorization (classification) of the economic entity’s activities according to the potential risk of harm to health. Target - to select facilities for the most frequent and in-depth inspections by the supervisory authorities. The second stage is the classification of food products according to the potential risk to consumer health to justify the types of food products subject to priority supervision during scheduled inspections of economic entities. The third stage is constructing “risk profiles” of certain products to optimize laboratory control of food safety. Discussion. The construction of risk-oriented control based on the principle of step-by-step substantiation and clarification of supervision objects was shown to ensure the targeting of authority and an increase in inspection pressure on precisely those objects that are characterized by the most frequent violations of legal requirements with the most severe and large-scale consequences for health. Increasing the control density at the highest risk categories’ facilities does not require additional resources from the regulator. It is still implemented by removing facilities with moderate or low risk from planned supervision and optimizing laboratory support. Conclusion. Work out and implement a risk-based food safety surveillance model corresponds to the strategic vector of development of state control (supervision) in the Russian Federation. The system assumes that “risky” goods are unsafe for the consumer’s health. Accordingly, their producers, distributors, and sellers should be under robust inspection, including laboratory supervision, and precisely according to those indicators for which these risks are most significant. The system is in a dynamic state and development.

scholarly journals Microbiological Food Safety of Seaweeds

Foods ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 2719
Author(s):  
Trond Løvdal ◽  
Bjørn Tore Lunestad ◽  
Mette Myrmel ◽  
Jan Thomas Rosnes ◽  
Dagbjørn Skipnes
Keyword(s):  
Food Safety ◽  
Antimicrobial Resistance ◽  
Product Category ◽  
Food Products ◽  
Health Concern ◽  
Western World ◽  
Brown Macroalgae ◽  
Edible Seaweed ◽  
Emerging Trends ◽  
Antimicrobial Resistance Genes

The use of seaweeds in the human diet has a long history in Asia and has now been increasing also in the western world. Concurrent with this trend, there is a corresponding increase in cultivation and harvesting for commercial production. Edible seaweed is a heterogenous product category including species within the green, red, and brown macroalgae. Moreover, the species are utilized on their own or in combinatorial food products, eaten fresh or processed by a variety of technologies. The present review summarizes available literature with respect to microbiological food safety and quality of seaweed food products, including processing and other factors controlling these parameters, and emerging trends to improve on the safety, utilization, quality, and storability of seaweeds. The over- or misuse of antimicrobials and the concurrent development of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in bacteria is a current worldwide health concern. The role of seaweeds in the development of AMR and the spread of antimicrobial resistance genes is an underexplored field of research and is discussed in that context. Legislation and guidelines relevant to edible seaweed are also discussed.

scholarly journals Environmental Spread of Antibiotic Resistance

Antibiotics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 640
Author(s):  
Nicholas Skandalis ◽  
Marlène Maeusli ◽  
Dimitris Papafotis ◽  
Sarah Miller ◽  
Bosul Lee ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Antibiotic Resistance ◽  
Disease Outbreaks ◽  
Antibiotic Resistance Genes ◽  
Food Products ◽  
Health Concern ◽  
Growth Promoters ◽  
Antibiotic Resistant ◽  
Resistance Selection ◽  
Bacterial Competition ◽  
The Impact

Antibiotic resistance represents a global health concern. Soil, water, livestock and plant foods are directly or indirectly exposed to antibiotics due to their agricultural use or contamination. This selective pressure has acted synergistically to bacterial competition in nature to breed antibiotic-resistant (AR) bacteria. Research over the past few decades has focused on the emergence of AR pathogens in food products that can cause disease outbreaks and the spread of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs), but One Health approaches have lately expanded the focus to include commensal bacteria as ARG donors. Despite the attempts of national and international authorities of developed and developing countries to reduce the over-prescription of antibiotics to humans and the use of antibiotics as livestock growth promoters, the selective flow of antibiotic resistance transmission from the environment to the clinic (and vice-versa) is increasing. This review focuses on the mechanisms of ARG transmission and the hotspots of antibiotic contamination resulting in the subsequent emergence of ARGs. It follows the transmission of ARGs from farm to plant and animal food products and provides examples of the impact of ARG flow to clinical settings. Understudied and emerging antibiotic resistance selection determinants, such as heavy metal and biocide contamination, are also discussed here.

scholarly journals Food Integrity Climate in Food Businesses: Conceptualization, Development, and Validation of a Self-Assessment Tool

Foods ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 1302
Author(s):  
Waeel Salih Alrobaish ◽  
Liesbeth Jacxsens ◽  
Pieternel A Luning ◽  
Peter Vlerick
Keyword(s):  
Food Safety ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Rating Scale ◽  
Assessment Tool ◽  
Self Assessment ◽  
Food Fraud ◽  
Likert Rating Scale ◽  
Distribution Company ◽  
Food Integrity ◽  
Development And Validation

Current scientific research and industry guidelines focus on food safety, aiming to reduce unintentional food contaminations through technological and managerial measures. Due to the deceptive nature of food fraud, the fight to prevent intentional food adulteration and counterfeiting threats requires an approach that goes beyond the common food safety-based strategies and falls into the sphere of food integrity. With food integrity being an emerging discipline, a definition was proposed and the concept of food integrity climate was introduced. A food integrity climate (FIC) self-assessment tool in the form of a questionnaire, with twenty indicators and a five-point Likert rating scale was developed, expert-validated, and tested in practice in a large-scale meat distribution company. The questionnaire was designed to measure the performance level of food integrity in food businesses along the supply chain through managers’ and operators’ perceptions. Minor but interesting differences were found in the food integrity climate perceived between managers and operators as well as among the company’s affiliates. The tool helps food businesses to get a deeper insight on the human dimension behind food integrity through the assessment of five climate components in relation to four food integrity elements, identifying strengths and weaknesses regarding a company’s food integrity climate.

scholarly journals A Sensitive, Point-of-Care Detection of Small Molecules Based on a Portable Barometer: Aflatoxins In Agricultural Products

Toxins ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 158
Author(s):  
Weiqi Zhang ◽  
Wenqin Wu ◽  
Chong Cai ◽  
Xiaofeng Hu ◽  
Hui Li ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Food Safety ◽  
High Performance ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Limit Of Detection ◽  
Point Of Care ◽  
Detection Methods ◽  
Relative Standard ◽  
Microplate Reader ◽  
Assay Precision ◽  
Point Of Care Detection

Sensitive and point-of-care detection of small toxic molecules plays a key role in food safety. Aflatoxin, a typical small toxic molecule, can cause serious healthcare and economic issues, thereby promoting the development of sensitive and point-of-care detection. Although ELISA is one of the official detection methods, it cannot fill the gap between sensitivity and point-of-care application because it requires a large-scale microplate reader. To employ portable readers in food safety, Pt-catalysis has attracted increasing attention due to its portability and reliability. In this study, we developed a sensitive point-of-care aflatoxin detection (POCAD) method via a portable handheld barometer. We synthesized and characterized Au@PtNPs and Au@PtNPs conjugated with a second antibody (Au@PtNPs-IgG). A competitive immunoassay was established based on the homemade monoclonal antibody against aflatoxins. Au@PtNPs-IgG was used to catalyze the production of O2 from H2O2 in a sealed vessel. The pressure of O2 was then recorded by a handheld barometer. The aflatoxin concentration was inversely proportional to the pressure recorded via the barometer reading. After optimization, a limit of detection of 0.03 ng/mL and a linear range from 0.09 to 16.0 ng/mL were achieved. Recovery was recorded as 83.1%–112.0% along with satisfactory results regarding inner- and inter-assay precision (relative standard deviation, RSD < 6.4%). Little cross-reaction was observed. Additionally, the POCAD was validated by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) by using peanut and corn samples. The portable POCAD exhibits strong potential for applications in the on-site detection of small toxic molecules to ensure food safety.

Separation and Detection of Caffeine, Theophylline and Theobromine from Coffee Varieties, Carbonated Soft Drinks and Alcoholic Beverages

2017 ◽  
Vol 68 (11) ◽  
pp. 2704-2707
Author(s):  
Delia Nica Badea ◽  
Codrina Levai
Keyword(s):  
Food Safety ◽  
Mobile Phase ◽  
Soft Drinks ◽  
Alcoholic Beverages ◽  
Instrumental Method ◽  
Spectral Library ◽  
Active Components ◽  
Carbonated Soft Drinks ◽  
Mass Detector ◽  
Methyl Xanthine

The paper evaluates the presence of methyl xanthine compounds: caffeine, theophylline, theobromine used as ingredients in carbonated soft drinks or as color and flavor ingredients in alcoholic beverages. The active components extracted from the selected products (coffee, tea, drinks) was separated and identified chromatographically using plates with silica nano -Sil NH2 / UV-254, mobile phase ethanol - water (50: 1, 50: 3, 50: 5; 50: 7; v / v) and 60 F254 plates, mobile phase acetone-toluene-chloroform (40:30:30 v / v). Separated caffeine and identified by TLC was analyzed using a HelWet Packard 5890 Gas Chromatograph equipped with MS 5972 mass detector and spectral library to confirm identification. This simple and rapid TLC, GC / MS instrumental method is useful in controlling traces of methyl xanthine compounds in food as a food safety measure.is useful in controlling traces compound of food products containing methylxanthines as a food safety measure.

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