Food Security

Criminology is useful for examining events and perpetrators but is only one prong of a multidisciplinary approach needed to counter food fraud, says Doug Moyer, PhD, a food packaging expert at Michigan State University. Other strategies should include food science, packaging science, and supply chain management or logistics. Packaging science can provide anti-counterfeiting security features and enable track-and-trace pedigrees in addition to protecting food and conveying product information. Knowing the source and history of foods is important because “fraudsters perpetuate their crimes through vulnerabilities in food supply chains,” Moyer told the Food Safety Summit in Baltimore earlier this year. “End-to-end visibility and supply chain transparency are critical management tools for brand owners,” he added.

If food exporting countries had comprehensive food traceability systems in place, it would be easier to track points where adulteration and fraud entered the food chain. A study published in the September 2014 Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety compared food traceability regulations and requirements of 21 OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) countries. Conducted by the Global Food Traceability Center at the Institute of Food Technologists, the study examined whether mandatory traceability regulations existed at each country’s national level; whether regulations included imported products and the nature of the regulations; whether electronic databases for traceability existed and if so, their accessibility; and whether labeling regulations allowed consumer access to and an understanding of traceability.

The study found that European Union countries including the U.K. had overall “superior” scores for food and feed traceability regulations while the U.S., Canada, Australia, Japan, Brazil, and New Zealand had overall “average” scores. Unsurprisingly, China received a “poor” overall score, and there were insufficient data to grade Russia. The authors said the study highlights the importance of harmonizing traceability requirements to minimize delays, strengthen interoperability, “and to improve traceability of food products globally.”

GFSI Tackles Food Fraud

The Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) last year directed its Guidance Document Working Group and Food Fraud Think Tank to develop recommendations in response to the growing prevalence of food fraud. In July 2014, GFSI released a guidance document carrying the following two major recommendations.

• The food industry should carry out a “food fraud vulnerability assessment” in which information is collected at appropriate points along the supply chain (including raw materials, ingredients, products, and packaging) and evaluated to identify and prioritize significant vulnerabilities for food fraud.
• Appropriate control measures should be put in place to reduce the risks of these vulnerabilities. Control measures can include strategies for monitoring, testing, origin verification, specification management, supplier audits, and anti-counterfeiting technologies. “A clearly documented control plan outlines when, where, and how to mitigate fraudulent activities,” the GFSI document says.

The new requirements will be included in the next full revision of GFSI’s Guidance Document 7th Edition, to be released in early 2016. “This represents yet another example of global collaboration and standards setting” that is essential for ensuring food security, says Melanie Neumann, vice president and chief financial officer, The Acheson Group.

The Role of Climate Change

While the science behind and implications of climate change continue to be debated, numerous U.S. and international agencies, public organizations, and private companies are exploring the ramifications of climate change on food security, meaning the adequate supply of and access to food. “Climate change poses a major challenge to U.S. agriculture because of the critical dependence of the agricultural system on climate and because of the complex role agriculture plays in social and economic systems,” concludes the federal government’s latest National Climate Assessment report, released in May 2014. Climate change will alter the stability of food supplies and create new food security challenges for the U.S. as the world seeks to feed nine billion people by 2050, the report says.