In a paper published in Food Chemistry Journal, Michigan State University (MSU) researchers provide a definition of the term “food fraud” and offer system-wide strategies to fight it. In addition, the article is translated into Russian, Korean, and Chinese.
Food fraud is defined as intentionally using deception for economic gain involving food. MSU has been helping governments, manufacturers, and retailers that have been deceived. Recent examples include European stores unintentionally selling beef tainted with horsemeat, pet foods with melamine filler in lieu of whey protein, and Chinese Wal-Mart stores mistakenly including fox meat in their offerings of donkey meat. Donkey meat is standard fare in northern China. While this tainted-meat scandal may have happened in an isolated area, Wal-Mart felt the negative economic impact around the globe.
John Spink, director of MSU’s Food Fraud Initiative and assistant professor in the College of Veterinary Medicine, and Doug Moyer, MSU program in public health professor and co-author, provide an academic definition—unbiased and peer-reviewed. The researchers’ goal is not simply to define and detect food fraud, but also to adjust entire food supply chains to focus on prevention.
“For governments to begin addressing the issue, they needed a credible source they could reference—an academic source rather than a food association that could potentially have biased views,” said Spink. “Already, we’re collaborating with many other countries and serving as members on their food fraud teams. MSU is leading the world down the food fraud prevention path.”
Getting involved in the issue at the earliest stage has established MSU as one of the key sources for government agencies and company leaders. The next phase of this research will be to put these new laws and guidelines into practice.
