Methods used in criminal investigations by forensic scientists could be the key to preventing food fraud and checking the origin of meats, fish, crops and other produce entering the UK.
Counterfeit food and medicines seized as they arrived in Europe rose by 77% between 2002 and 2003 with an estimated value of E1bn, according to European Commission figures.
Studies are now under way to protect consumers by ensuring that they know what they are buying and foods labelled as European, organic or wild landing on supermarket shelves come from the sources claimed.
Simon Kelly from the Institute
of Food Research in Norwich said the science would be of benefit to Trading Standards, as suspicious products labelled as UK or European thought to have been originally shipped in from another part of the world could currently only be tracked back through paper records.
Speaking to The Grocer after presenting the findings of a pilot study to a Food Standards Agency seminar in London on Wednesday, Kelly said that mislabelling was increasing as some suppliers branded goods as organic or of European origin in order to take advantage of the premium prices paid for these goods.
“It is an issue of food fraud - is the consumer being ripped off? We have a real need to develop techniques that allow us to verify labelling and ensure products are genuine.
“Eventually this could be used alongside enforcement agencies and at the moment we are trying to develop reliable methods that they can use.”
The methods are the same as those that are used by forensic scientists to find out the nationality of an unidentified person. Analysing substances in meat show the type of crops the animal was fed on and the water it drank, both of which can reveal where in the world it was reared.
Other uses for the methods are to test foods for artificial fertilisers, determine whether poultry has been corn-fed and check the contents of olive oil or mineral water.
The science is to be further developed through a five-year Tracing the Origin of Food project funded by the European Union and the FSA that began in January.
It will also take into account data from other studies that have already been conducted on foods including beef, poultry, salmon and olive oil.
Amy Balchin
Counterfeit food and medicines seized as they arrived in Europe rose by 77% between 2002 and 2003 with an estimated value of E1bn, according to European Commission figures.
Studies are now under way to protect consumers by ensuring that they know what they are buying and foods labelled as European, organic or wild landing on supermarket shelves come from the sources claimed.
Simon Kelly from the Institute
of Food Research in Norwich said the science would be of benefit to Trading Standards, as suspicious products labelled as UK or European thought to have been originally shipped in from another part of the world could currently only be tracked back through paper records.
Speaking to The Grocer after presenting the findings of a pilot study to a Food Standards Agency seminar in London on Wednesday, Kelly said that mislabelling was increasing as some suppliers branded goods as organic or of European origin in order to take advantage of the premium prices paid for these goods.
“It is an issue of food fraud - is the consumer being ripped off? We have a real need to develop techniques that allow us to verify labelling and ensure products are genuine.
“Eventually this could be used alongside enforcement agencies and at the moment we are trying to develop reliable methods that they can use.”
The methods are the same as those that are used by forensic scientists to find out the nationality of an unidentified person. Analysing substances in meat show the type of crops the animal was fed on and the water it drank, both of which can reveal where in the world it was reared.
Other uses for the methods are to test foods for artificial fertilisers, determine whether poultry has been corn-fed and check the contents of olive oil or mineral water.
The science is to be further developed through a five-year Tracing the Origin of Food project funded by the European Union and the FSA that began in January.
It will also take into account data from other studies that have already been conducted on foods including beef, poultry, salmon and olive oil.
Amy Balchin
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