Food fraud is not a new trend. In fact, there were laws written nearly 2,000 years ago in Rome against adulterating wine. Nearly 1,000 years later during the Middle Ages, there were laws that made it illegal to adulterate bread, milk, and spices. This historical context provides not only interesting background, but also demonstrates that after thousands of years, food fraud and adulteration can still be difficult to identify, control and eliminate.
To prevent food fraud and adulteration, we first need to understand what it is. Depending on who you ask and what organization they represent, food fraud is defined differently. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) uses the term Economically Motivated Adulteration, which is food fraud that results in a food safety issue. Dr. John Spink, director and assistant professor, Food Fraud Initiative, Michigan State University, has stated food fraud is a “collective term used to encompass the deliberate and intentional substitution, addition, tampering, or misrepresentation of food, food ingredients, or food packaging; or false or misleading statements made about a product, for economic gain.” Professor Tony Hines, (retired) director of regulatory and crisis management at Leatherhead Food Research defined food fraud as a “dishonest act or omission, relating to the production or supply of food, which is intended for personal gain or to cause loss to another party.” In brief, food fraud is an intentional act to gain an economic advantage and involves misleading the consumer and or adulterating the food in some way.