7 Common Types of Food Fraud

Food crimes cover a wide range of sins, including food fraud. Producers’ raw materials, finished products, and packaging can be targeted along the entire supply chain—from farms to retailers and every point in between.

“For us, the risk starts way, way before [the product] even hits the factory,” says Darren Buckley, group security manager for Fonterra, a dairy production company and New Zealand’s largest company.

Fonterra is also one of the largest dairy companies in the world, exporting roughly 96 percent of its products. Beyond consumption as milk and dairy products, including cheese and butter, milk is also used in pharmaceutical-grade products, such as inhalers and medicine.

For products with brand names on the packaging, the potential for liability also extends beyond when the truck loaded with products drives off from a factory, packaging facility, or warehouse, Buckley adds.

Fonterra and other companies with brand-name recognition must deal with various types of food fraud that can occur along a product’s supply chain.

Learn more: Food Fraud. Knowledge Centre for Food Fraud and Quality, European Commission. Updated: 14 January 2020. https://knowledge4policy.ec.europa.eu/food-fraud-quality/topic/food-fraud_en