European Knowledge Centre for Food Fraud and Quality

Franz Ulberth

JRC.F.4 Fraud Detection and Prevention

The Joint Research Centre at a glance

3000 staff Almost 75% are scientists

and researchers.

Research facilities are located in

5 Member States with Headquarters

in Brussels

'[….] organized crime groups now also counterfeit daily consumer goods such as detergents, food stuffs, cosmetic products and pharmaceuticals.'

EU Serious and Organised Crime

Threat Assessment (SOCTA 2013)

Key characteristics of food fraud

Violation of EU food law

Intention

Economic gain

Customer deception

Source: www.pwc.com/gx/en/services/food-supply-integrity-services/publications/food-fraud.html

Source: www.cdc.gov/foodsafety/outbreaks/investigating-outbreaks/figure_food_production.html

Source: www.good.is/infographics/infographic-what-foods-are-most-susceptible-to-food-fraud

• Seed oils • Hazelnut oil • Refined OO • Soft deodorised

OO

Substitution

• False category • Origin • Harvest • Cultivar • Organic

Misrepresentation

"….most of the topselling olive oil brands we examined regularly failed to meet

international standards for extra virgin olive oil." Frankel et al. (2011)

Vulnerability Fraud history

Supply/

demand

Supply chain length

Physical form/

Complexity

Controls

Easy of manipulation

Vulnerability

Mitigation

Food integrity

Vulnerability assessment

Supply chain transparency

Ingredient specifications

Controls

Authenticity technology

Early warning system

https://ec.europa.eu/jrc/en/food-fraud-and-quality

Knowledge Base

Analytical Services

Networking

Tools and services offered by the EC Knowledge Centre for Food Fraud and Quality

Incidence reporting (MedISys)

https://ec.europa.eu/jrc/en/research-topic/food-authenticity-and-quality

Methods database

Compositional databases of authentic products

Competence map

Analytical services (R & D)

Spectroscopy

Chemometry

DNA based methods

Objective: To complement EU FFN with technical/scientific expertise

Targeted audience: technical experts from Member States' competent authorities

First meeting: first week October, JRC Geel (tentative)

Topic: Taking stock of needs and gaps in knowledge related to tools for detecting fraud in the food chain

Network of technical experts

Thanks Any questions? You can find me at franz.ulberth@ec.europa.eu