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Food Science & Technology vocabulary · Regulations and Standards

Food fraud

Meaning in food science & technology, with examples

nounCommon term

In food science & technology, food fraud means: Deliberately changing, mislabeling or replacing food or ingredients for economic gain, such as mixing cheaper oils into olive oil, adding sugar syrup to honey or selling cheap fish under another name.

In Turkish: gıda sahteciliği, taklit ve tağşiş

How it is used

Includes adulteration, substitution, counterfeiting and false claims about origin or production method. Standards such as BRCGS and FSSC 22000 require a vulnerability assessment of raw materials. Labs detect it with methods such as DNA testing and isotope analysis. It is different from food defense, which deals with deliberate harm.

Example sentences

  1. Saffron and honey are high on our list of materials at risk of food fraud.

  2. The isotope test proved food fraud: sugar syrup had been added to the 'pure' honey.

Common collocations

  • vulnerability assessment
  • adulteration
  • economically motivated adulteration
  • product authenticity
  • detect food fraud
  • traceabilityThe ability to follow a food and its ingredients through every stage of production, processing and distribution, one step back to the supplier and one step forward to the customer.
  • auditA planned, systematic check of a factory, its documents and its practices by an auditor to see whether they meet a standard, a customer's requirements or the law.
  • raw materialA basic material, such as milk, flour, fruit or meat, that a factory receives and processes to make its products.
  • labelThe printed information on a food package, such as the product name, ingredients, allergens, net quantity, date mark, storage instructions and producer details.
  • certificate of analysisA document from a supplier or laboratory that shows the test results for a specific batch and confirms that it meets the agreed specification.

More terms: Regulations and Standards

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