Fraud and non-compliance issues discussed by European countries in October have increased for the first time in recent months.
The number of suspicions of food and other fraud raised by EU Member States increased in October. The number of 292 warnings has increased from 213 in September and 222 in August. There were 325 reports in July, 265 in June, 281 in May, 341 in April, 345 in March, 318 in February and 277 in January.
The problems mentioned are possible fraud. Non-compliance may lead to investigations by authorities in EU Member States. Details come from a monthly report published by the European Commission.
Data includes suspected cross-border fraud topics shared between members of the Alert and Cooperation Network (ACN) and sourced from the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF), the Administrative Assistance and Cooperation Network (AAC) and the Agri-Food Fraud Network (FFN).
It covers food, feed, food contact materials, animal welfare for farm animals, plant protection products and veterinary products that end up as residues and contaminants in food and feed.
The aim is to help national authorities set up risk-based controls to combat fraudulent and deceptive practices, assist the food sector with vulnerability assessments and identify emerging risks.
Overview of warnings
A total of 95 notices mentioned fruit and vegetables, the majority of which were non-compliant due to pesticide residues. Diet foods, supplements and fortified foods come in second place with 44 warnings. Cereals and bakery products were in third place, with confectionery in fourth place.
Most problems came to light through border inspections or market controls. A total of 13 were found after consumer complaints and 34 after a company’s internal audit. Two were the result of food poisoning.
Eight alerts involved the United States in October. They include benzoic acid in soft drinks, irradiation of dietary supplements, 1,3-dimethylamylamine (DMAA) in supplements and other ingredients that are not allowed in Europe.
Cases of product manipulation include chicken DNA in Polish turkey sausages, pork and venison in Austrian deer salami, sheep’s milk in Greek goat’s milk kefir and ethylene oxide in food supplements and psyllium powder from India.
Record fraud incidents include advertising narcotics in chips from Lithuania and falsifying documents of oysters from Ireland.
Other issues raised included feed being unfit for consumption being diverted to food in France, forgery of horse passports in Ireland and Britain, and a horse treated with phenylbutazone in France not being excluded from slaughter. In Ukraine, mustard flour and oil that are not suitable for food may have entered the food chain after importation.
There was illegal trade in cucumbers in Romania, an unlicensed operator processing snails in France, illegal trade in various products in Germany and transport temperature problems with products from Vietnam, Romania, the Netherlands and an unknown origin.
Several non-compliance cases listed ingredients not allowed in the EU and pesticides above maximum residue limits (MRL). Other warnings were due to traceability issues or products failing border controls.
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