Implications of Food Fraud and its Consequences for Health

Live Broadcast

Background

While there is no internationally agreed definition, “food fraud” is commonly described as the situation that consumers are deceived about the quality and/or content of the food they purchase / consume. Food fraud is mostly motivated by an undue advantage for those who sell the food product itself or those who are in the supply chain of the food product. Food fraud can result in a serious food safety consequence to have the adverse public health impact, including serious allergic reactions, but some may say that many cases may not be related to food safety, for example, dilution of milk by water, or adding sugar syrup to honey, may not sicken people. However, food fraud is a significant indicator that there is a blind spot in food supply chains, and it means the risk that the food can become unsafe through such blind spots is high. Food fraud also negatively impact consumers’ trust in food industries and regulatory authorities. In addition, it is extremely costly to respond to food fraud due to the need to inform all potentially affected consumers as well as to recall all possible food products that can be affected by the fraud.

Food fraud is found and reported constantly everywhere in the world. However, except for the high-income countries, only a handful number of countries have relevant and reliable data about food fraud, thus having only limited options to manage them at the national level. It is important for the countries in the Latin America (and Caribbean?) region to have a good understanding of food fraud and its negative impact on food safety, as well as on the whole agri-food system.

Objectives

FAO invites government officials from various relevant sectors, as well as stakeholders from the region, to the webinar "Implications of Food Fraud and its Health Implications" to raise awareness and discuss relevant management options in national contexts.

Panelists and presentations

Masami Takeuchi, Food Safety Officer, FAO	Food fraud: What it is and how it happens
Carmen Bullon, Legal Officer, FAO	Food fraud - legal aspects
Esther Garrido Gamarro, Fishery Officer, FAO	Fraud in the fisheries sector: Case studies
Christina Vlachou, Food Safety and Control Laboratory, Joint FAO/IAEA Centre	Scientific methodologies and latest technologies for the detection of food fraud

Moderation

Ana Posas, FAO Agricultural Officer for Latin America and the Caribbean