In late 2023, the CDC noticed elevated levels of lead in a number of children in the U.S. Lead has long been known as a dangerous heavy metal, especially during early childhood development.
Concern led to an investigation, which concluded the culprit was tainted cinnamon in three popular brands of applesauce products, and an FDA/CDC investigation uncovered that it was introduced via cinnamon that contained lead chromate purchased from an overseas supplier that was not required to test for heavy metals. As of March 2024, over 460 children spread across 44 states were identified as being potential victims.
It's a tragic story; one that's becoming unfortunately more common as supply chains stretch further from the FDA's oversight. Leaders at the FDA believe that lead chromate was added intentionally; it has historically been used as an additive in certain spices to increase weight, color, and profitability. Food fraud is rising, and food fraud prevention is increasingly becoming a global priority.
What is food fraud?
In the United States, food fraud, or more technically "economically motivated adulteration" (EMA), is considered to be the "fraudulent, intentional substitution or addition of a substance in a product for the purpose of increasing the apparent value of the product or reducing the cost of its production, i.e., for economic gain," per a working definition proposed by the FDA in 2009.
While there is no specific regulatory definition of EMA, it falls within the scope of 21 U.S.C. § 342, the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic (FD&C) Act dealing with adulterated food in general. Further emphasis on adulteration was placed in the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), though EMA again is not explicitly defined, leaving the definition broad and open to interpretation, creating confusion as various organizations and groups propose their own definitions.
For the purposes of this post, we'll be using the working definition to maintain consistency.
How big of a problem is food fraud?
It's difficult to answer this question exactly, a point that even the FDA readily admits.
Quantifying the exact cost of food fraud is a big challenge:
- Only the worst incidents that create measurable and direct public harm are routinely caught.
- Testing standards for many products are not up to identifying specific fraud techniques — a big problem in the oil industry.
- Food fraud perpetrators respond to increased monitoring and detection efforts with evolving, increasingly sophisticated techniques — something that has been directly observed in the honey industry.
- It's difficult to definitively prove intentionality — we know adulterated cinnamon was produced, but finding evidence that it was produced intentionally to commit food fraud is much harder.
Even with all of these challenges, it's clear food fraud is a big problem with a big cost: financially, and in the number of lives impacted.
Food fraud is a growing problem
The E.U.'s Knowledge Center for Food Fraud and Quality (KC-FFQ) has seen similar results in its monthly Food Fraud Summary reports, though it doesn't maintain a comprehensive aggregate measure.
Given economic and production conditions, it's likely food fraud will continue to rise due to:
- An increase in market prices because of global inflation makes food fraud more profitable, especially when paired with increased costs to produce certain foods.
- Greater complexity in global food sourcing now pulls more food than ever from geographies with little or no regulatory oversight and few penalties for offenders.
- Growing consumer demand for certain products, for example organics, creates incentives for producers to cheat the system.
Food Fraud Prevention
With the rise of food fraud, manufacturers have to make food fraud prevention a top priority. Especially after the passage of FSMA and its Foreign Supplier Verification Program (FSVP), which can make U.S. manufacturers liable for food fraud perpetrated by their vendors, as well as the Food Defense Rule.
Preventing food fraud is challenging, but there are proven and effective steps every manufacturer should take right now:
- Create and implement a Food Defense Plan for your facilities. This is now required by FDA rules, and full enforcement began in September 2023.
- Identify your most at-risk raw materials and the specific risks they face, and implement a thorough and rigorous testing plan to identify adulterated food before it enters your production environment — the reason contaminated cinnamon made it into applesauce is that at no point was it required to be tested for heavy metal adulteration.
- Regularly audit all of your suppliers to ensure they are at least meeting the Food Defense standards of U.S. regulators and the Food Defense standards you've implemented in your facility. Ensure they are also regularly auditing their suppliers.
- Train employees who deal with suppliers and shipments from suppliers on recognizing signs of potential food fraud and empower them to speak up whenever they have suspicions or concerns.
- Keep up to date with your own food defense and food fraud prevention training, and stay informed on reports from global monitoring agencies to identify potential risks to your own supply chain.
Food fraud is a serious problem. It calls for a serious solution. If you're ready to get serious about food fraud prevention in your facilities, contact AIB International about our Food Defense and Food Fraud Prevention services.
