What Do You Know About Food Fraud?
By Sara Butler
Have you ever heard of food fraud? Even if you haven’t, it’s something you may have been an unwilling victim of. Food fraud isn’t the same thing as food safety, but it can impact your health just the same. Here’s what you need to know about food fraud so you can be on the lookout to make sure you aren’t one of its victims.
Food Fraud Made Clear
Food fraud is a term that is used to describe a deliberate and intentional food substitution, addition, misrepresentation or tampering of ingredients in your food, packaging of the food or even statements made about the food that is misleading in order to get you to buy it. A great example of food fraud is less expensive species of fish being sold as more expensive species – at a risk to your health due to possible increased toxicity of the product or possible allergic reactions.
It makes sense that food fraud would be a problem since the food industry is designed to sell products in order to make money. But consumers aren’t the only ones fooled by food fraud because it can strike manufacturers and retailers of food as well.
Where Does Your Food Come From?
Do you know where your food comes from? Most people don’t pay a lot of attention to how the food they eat is made or where it is made, just how expensive it is to buy. This attitude is what makes food fraud such a big problem.
Examples of Food Fraud
In 2013, people in France, Greece, England and other countries in Europe were unwittingly eating horse meat contained in meatballs and other meat products they were buying. The manufacturers and suppliers knew about the horse meat but didn’t label it on the product. Instead, it was labeled as beef in order to charge more money for the product.
There are a lot of food fraud cases that come from products manufactured in China as well. You may recall many cats and dogs dying after they ate food produced in China that contained melamine instead of the protein usually required. Honey made in China has also been found to contain antibiotics, resulting in the United States placing a tariff on Chinese honey.
The Real Problem
A lot of food fraud isn’t really dangerous; you’re simply not getting what you think you are from your food. Where it can get dangerous is for people with food allergies. If something in the food you’re eating is substituted with an ingredient that is cheaper but not clearly labeled, such as with eggs or tree nuts, this could result in harm to someone or even death.
This is why buying food grown and produced locally is in your best interest. There are many ways to eat fresh, local food that won’t break your bank. Make sure you know where your food comes from and what’s in it!