Items Tagged with 'food fraud'

As FDA expands its oversight of food contaminants, manufacturers, retailers, and distributors must understand evolving regulatory expectations and take proactive steps to identify, monitor, and mitigate contamination risks.

The UK Government Chemist has published its Government Chemist Review 2025, outlining its activities, including food chemical safety regulatory compliance testing and research and development related to analytical methods for authenticity and adulteration.

FDA tested 195 samples from 2022–2025. No violations were identified among domestic samples, but 4.5 percent of imported samples showed evidence of economically motivated adulteration. 

After an online video surfaced showing the illegal use of formaldehyde to preserve cabbage by a wholesaler, Chinese authorities launched an investigation, confirmed the practice, and ordered nationwide inspections of fresh produce.

The organized illegal sale of foods imported from China was discovered, including animal-based foods represented as plant-based, foods with undeclared allergens, the presence of African swine fever virus, and prohibited species. Researchers examined how prohibited foods may circumvent EU border controls.

Of the products (including chips, mayonnaise, and salad dressings) labeled to contain avocado oil as the sole declared edible oil, 89 percent contained fatty acid and sterol profiles indicating the presence of other oils.

According to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency's (CFIA’s) 2024–2025 Food Fraud Annual Report, CFIA tested 886 food samples for authenticity and conducted 362 label verifications. Olive oil had the lowest authenticity compliance rate.

Supply chains are going digital, omnichannel operations are becoming the norm, and automation is everywhere. This should be good news for food fraud prevention. More data should mean more visibility, but in reality, it also creates more opportunities for both prevention and exploitation.

In 2025, FDA sampled domestic and imported honey to detect food fraud. Consistent with previous years, the rate of fraud was low, but still high enough to emphasize the ongoing vulnerability of honey to economically motivated adulteration.

The free virtual event will take place on March 31 and will feature four European research and innovation initiatives to discuss how food security can be safeguarded by addressing fraud, crises, cyber threats, and chemical, biological and radiological (CBR) hazards across the food supply chain.