Food supply chains are susceptible to fraud and adulteration “more than ever,” warns Kerry

05 Sep 2022 --- Disruption in global supply chains, food shortages and the ongoing challenges of producing sustainable and nutritious food for the world’s ballooning population is observed by consumers and industry alike. With pressures continuing to mount, particularly following the COVID-19 pandemic, Kerry is spotlighting the importance of food safety and integrity, as well as its solutions to maintaining safe supply chains.

In an exclusive interview, Noeleen Donegan, global vice president of Food Safety at Kerry, tells FoodIngredientsFirst how the company is tackling these issues head-on. 

“Instances of raw ingredient and food product shortages have been rife in recent months due to a variety of factors. This means that many consumers have to turn to alternatives in their daily lives.” 

With key ingredients less readily available and the industry under pressure to limit retail price increases, she states that the global supply chain is now – more than ever – susceptible to food fraud and adulteration. 

Supply chain transparency 
The company is an active member of global non-profit SSAFE, which works to strengthen food safety and improve well-being, alongside the Food Industry Intelligence Network (FIN) established in 2015, to ensure the integrity of food supply chains and protect the interests of the consumers.  

Kerry takes an “integrated approach” with meat processors to meet food safety and shelf life expectations.It has also invested in Quality, Safety, Health and Environment (QSHE) projects. 

However, the globalization of ingredient sourcing continues to make assessing food integrity risk across the supply chain ever more challenging and growing consumer and regulatory demand for food transparency and sustainability is pushing the industry to find better ways of sharing supply chain information.

Donegan says that “industry must continue to collaborate if we are to achieve a fully transparent supply chain and the ability to share food fraud information across its increasingly global operations.”

“Participating in collaborative efforts such as FIIN and SSAFE is an important step toward this goal,” she asserts. 

Additionally, Kerry continues to monitor trends and local regulatory requirements. Doing so allows the company to support brands seeking to update or modify their preservation and protection processes, notes Donegan. 

While progress has been made, the globalization of ingredient sourcing continues to create challenges in assessing food integrity and waste risk across supply chains.

Fortunately, notes Donegan, a growing consumer and regulatory demand for food transparency and sustainability is pushing the industry to find better ways of sharing supply chain information. 

“Kerry has the flexibility to share its raw material supply across regions as required and appropriate.”

Food fraud infringement on industry 
When food fraud and ingredient adulteration happens across industry, the actions are widely undertaken for economic gain – with genuine products being swapped out for low-quality alternatives – and negatively impact consumer confidence and the reputation of food manufacturers.  

It is estimated that economically motivated food adulteration costs the industry around €8 billion (US$7.9 billion) to €12 billion (US$11.9 billion) per year, according to the European Commission, explains Donegan. 

“While this kind of deception infringes the intellectual property rights of the impacted company, it also poses a direct threat from an allergen and safety point of view.”

Notably, food integrity has long been recognized as an industry imperative, partly to reduce economic damage but most importantly to protect customers. 

“The World Health Organization has called for industry collaboration for decades and established an annual World Food Safety Day in 2018 to highlight the need for continued action,” she underscores.  

Which ingredients are consumers most concerned about?
According to proprietary research which Kerry conducted last year, the company found that meat is the number one category of consumer concern when it comes to food safety. 

“Fresh meat topped the list,” explains Donegan, “with processed meat following close behind.” Interestingly, meat alternatives also ranked high on the list. 

“This research also showed that 60% of consumers are more concerned about food safety since the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Of course, having the proper food protection and preservation solutions in place is critical to ensuring a product is and stays safe for consumption.

Solutions for meat safety 
According to Donegan, Kerry takes an “integrated approach” with meat processors to meet food safety and shelf life expectations.

Formulating meat food safety solutions requires trained microbiologists, in-application challenges, and shelf life studies. She elaborates that challenge studies mimic potentiaThe globalization of ingredient sourcing continues to make assessing food integrity risk across the supply chain challenging.l contamination to demonstrate that a preservative can keep food safe during a worst-case scenario.  

“One of our newest solutions in this space is an acetate-based preservation solution for meat.”

“This innovation is a unique blend of acetate and diacetate to provide exceptional efficacy and food safety. This is a dry product that can be used up to five times less than a traditional liquid lactate/diacetate blend to achieve the same level of food safety.”

Because this solution is used at such a low dosage, it often has no negative impact on taste, she notes. “The efficacy at low doses is due to higher undissociated acid content. This means less preservation product is needed while still meeting vital food safety standards. In more technical terms, the positive effects of acetates are higher in the neutral-pH zone – a key reason lactates can be replaced by applying acetates at a much lower dose.”

With many of the food safety preservative solutions currently on the market – both conventional and those offering a clean label – having a sodium base that contributes more to the final product, the need for solutions has led to a slow but steady shift in preservation protocols, Donegan details. 

Meat applications are “notoriously challenging” in terms of meeting sodium targets, so she says sodium-based preservatives are ground zero for reformulators. 

“Our solution is sodium free to help meet processors’ sodium reduction goals while maintaining superior food safety in their meat products. 

Uncertainties for plant-based alternatives 
Meanwhile, just as industry is exploring new realms of plant-based alternatives, so are consumers, and in getting to know the storage and cooking process of these new products, they remain wary, warns Donegan. 

“Almost half of the consumers voiced concerns over the food safety of plant-based meat alternatives, according to a survey carried out by Kerry last year, second only to the real deal. How do you know when a plant-based burger is cooked properly or past its use-by date? Can plant-based meat pass or fail a gone-off sniff test?”

According to Donegan, these uncertainties pose an issue for increased food waste as customers err on caution. “Research shows that only half of food waste can be reduced by shelf life extension or preservation innovation, while the remaining 50% is down to changing consumer behavior.”

She presents the opportunity for businesses to clarify their food safety credentials in meat alternatives and innovate new ways of satisfying customers’ concerns.  

Another challenge facing the sector in meat-free innovation is that statistically, a consumer of plant-based alternatives has more significant health-conscious needs and is highly mindful of a product’s ingredients label. Traditionally effective preservatives such as salt and sugar are less desirable and may even dissuade some consumers from purchasing a product. 

Yet, without sufficient preservation, a product’s shelf life is shortened; its safety can be called into question, and the risk for food waste increases again. 

Kerry is working to solve these issues in effective ways. “One approach is to investigate the spoilage organisms in plant-based meat alternatives, which tend to be higher than other food products. By minimizing these through clean label preservation solutions, a product’s shelf life can be increased, resulting in a reduction of waste,” Donegan concludes.

By Elizabeth Green

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