Food safety and quality professionals across the globe dedicate their work for the assurance to the consumption of food by the customers is of consistency in quality. Every so often, if a supply chain is overly long, complex, or passes through a regulatory blind spot, something can slip through the net. All over the scams in the food industry, we hear the frauds about food adulteration. So what is the adulteration of food? If simply put, then it would be something like the following: The act or process of intentional degradation of the quality of food items offered by the addition/substitution of inferior substances. It can also be done by removal of some valuable ingredients just to increase the shelf life of the product or to make it look pleasing to the eyes of the consumer.
The most adulterated food items around the world include (according to its rank):
- Olive Oil
- Milk
- Honey
- Saffron
- Orange juice
- Coffee
- Apple Juice
- Grape Vine
- Maple Syrup
- Vanilla Extract
The biggest food fraud cases around the world are:
- Spanish ‘olive’ oil, 1981
Aniline is a chemical compound that is used to make plastics, dyes, and other industrial materials. Pure aniline is highly toxic. In 1981. During the springtime, a batch of industrial rapeseed oil was allegedly contaminated illegally with aniline and further sold as olive oil to street traders across Spain. Over 1000 people died from “toxic oil syndrome’ or síndrome del aceite tóxico, a violent allergic reaction. The incident became the most deadliest foodborne illness disaster in modern history. The scariest part? Despite highly extensive tests, the exact biological trigger was never identified.
- Irish ‘beef’, 2013
The horsemeat scandal erupted in 2013 after beefburgers in the UK and Ireland were proved to have equine DNA in them. This brought in a new meaning to the phrase “horses for courses”. The pork was also discovered in a range of beef products. Tesco's market value slumped by €360 million and sales of frozen burgers dropped by 43% as a result.
- Chinese Milk, 2008
A string of Chinese dairy companies was watering down the milk. Melamine is a system that has high protein content. This is added to watered-down milk to pass the protein test of milk. The problem is that melamine dramatically increases the likelihood of kidney problems, including stones. The exposure of the scheme and resulting scandal implicated companies like Nestle, and by the end of 2008 over 300,000 people had become ill, with over 50,000 children hospitalized. The culprits were arrested and sentenced harshly, with 2 executed.
For more articles on food Marketing, agrotech, and technology related to the Indian food industry, check out FMTmagazine. FMT Magazine is an edition of the German publication. It is a comprehensive food and beverage magazine that connects the buyers and the sellers through content that is of international quality. The magazine over the entire spectrum of the food industry including content on policies. FMT Magazine stands for Food Marketing & Technology Magazine. The magazine carries articles on ingredients, processing, packaging, food safety, and marketing, along with interviews with top personalities in the Indian food industry.
