Robust Food Fraud Database Launched To Help in the Fight Against Ingredient Adulteration

03 Aug 2016 --- The fight against food fraud has been given a boost with the launch of an updated database to help food manufacturers and retailers make informed decisions about ingredients that are at risk of being adulterated.

The US Pharmacopeial Convention (USP) has compiled the next generation of its Food Fraud Database (FFD 2.0) that aims to provide brand protection, increase consumer trust and support new food safety regulations recently finalized by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The global and economic problem of food fraud, also referred to as economically-motivated adulteration (EMA), is a public health problem that costs industry an estimated $10 to $15 billion every year and affects as much as 10 percent of the global food supply.

“Consumers today are more educated than ever, and manufacturers risk doing irreparable damage to their brands as a result of food fraud,” says Todd Abraham of Mondelez International and a member of USP’s Board of Trustees.

“The Food Fraud Database 2.0 provides food manufacturers with the ability to look at past incident of fraud and take proactive steps to protect their supply chains, this protecting their reputation and ensuring consumer confidence in their products.”

This update of the database is the largest collection for food fraud in the world and includes not only thousands of ingredients and related adulterants, but also incident reports, surveillance records and analytical methods gathered from scientific literature, media publications, regulatory records, judicial records and trade associations around the world.

The new version also allows users to spot historical trends and identify vulnerabilities through a customized dashboard which can include automatic alerts of new records of food fraud and automated analytics for for ingredients of interest.

“Substances used to adulterate food can include industrial dyes, plasticizers, allergens or other substances not intended to be consumers by people,” says Jeffrey Moore, PhD, science director for the food program at USP. “Smart mitigation of risks starts with reliable data, and the Food fraud Database 2.0 is a first good step towards assessing the hazards potentially present in specific food supply chains.”

The Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) requires food manufacturers and retailers to identify and analyze potential hazards including those resulting from EMA as part of their food safety plans. The new generation database provides hazards reports on specific adulterants, making it easier for manufacturers and retailers to quickly identify ingredients with a known history of adulteration with potentially hazardous substances.

“With data informed by scientists and food fraud expert from academia, industry and regulatory agencies, the new database offers even better coverage of the historical information on instances of food fraud,” says Jonathan DeVries, chairman of USP’s expert committee on food ingredients. “The best way to increase your chances of preventing the next food fraud incident in your supply chain is to make use of the database and other tools USP’s expert committee has worked on to fight food fraud in a more holistic approach.”

“These resources together offer manufacturers and retailers an arsenal of tools to protect their brand, comply with the regulations and increase public confidence.”