Grocers are facing a growing problem with food fraud
14th April 2010
A recent article by By Lyndsey Layton of The Washingon Post, looks at the recent increase of incidents of food fraud.
Food fraud” has been documented in fruit juice, olive oil, spices, vinegar, wine, spirits and maple syrup, and appears to pose a significant problem in the seafood industry.
“It’s growing very rapidly, and there’s more of it than you might think,” said James Morehouse, a senior partner at A.T. Kearney, which is studying the issue for the Grocery Manufacturers Association, which represents the food-and-beverage industry.
John Spink, a Michigan State University expert on food and packaging fraud, estimates that 5 to 7 percent of the U.S. food supply is affected but acknowledges the number could be greater. “We know what we seized at the border, but we have no idea what we didn’t seize,” he said.
The job of ensuring that food is labeled accurately largely rests with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). But it has been overwhelmed in trying to prevent food contamination, and combating fraud has remained on a back burner.