Organic food gets an unenviable third place in a new EU-wide ranking of foods most at risk of fraud.
A draft report from the European Parliament Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety says that olive oil, fish and organic food make up the top three foods most at risk of fraud – followed by, milk, grains, honey and maple syrup, spices, wine and certain fruit juices.
The report, which was commissioned in the wake of the horsemeat scandal, says there is currently no definition of food fraud under EU law. This, it says, reflects the fact that food fraud previously hasn’t been a priority area for legislation and enforcement for the European Commission.
Food fraud spans a wide range of illegal activities but most commonly involves replacing key ingredients, wrongly labelling animal species, selling non-organic food as organic, false weight labelling and misuse of certifier logos.
The new report says food fraud is mostly likely to occur “where the potential for financial gain is high and the risk of getting caught is low”. The report’s welcome the European Commission’s plans to strengthen penalties for food fraud but argue these “are not dissuasive enough”.
