Notifications Related to Fraud and Adulteration in the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) in 2000–2021

Marcin Pigłowski () and Maria Śmiechowska
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Marcin Pigłowski: Department of Quality Management, Faculty of Management and Quality Science, Gdynia Maritime University, Morska 81-87 Str., 81-225 Gdynia, Poland
Maria Śmiechowska: Department of Quality Management, Faculty of Management and Quality Science, Gdynia Maritime University, Morska 81-87 Str., 81-225 Gdynia, Poland

Sustainability, 2024, vol. 16, issue 15, 1-17

Abstract: Fraudulent and adulterated food is produced mainly to reduce prices and attract consumers’ attention whilst threatening their economic interests, health, and safety. As such, this type of activity should be eliminated. This study’s aim was to identify the most common hazards related to food fraud and adulteration, reported in the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) between 2000 and 2021, taking into account the product category (including individual products), country of origin, and notification type. We used Microsoft Excel (filtering, vertical-searching, transposition, and pivot table functions) and Statistica 13.3 (two-way joining cluster analysis) to analyse similarities between the hazards identified throughout the research period. Notifications relating to food fraud and adulteration accounted for 18.7% of all RASFF notifications, fluctuating between 1000 and 1200 per year in recent years. These mainly included hazards related to composition and novel foods in dietetic foods, food supplements and fortified foods, sulphites in fruits and vegetables, colours in cereals and bakery products, or Sudan in herbs and spices. Dietetic foods, dietary supplements, and fortified foods were mainly reported as alerts and information notifications, meaning that they were already available on the common European internal market. The other products originated mainly from outside the European Union (Asia—Turkey, Uzbekistan, India and Africa—Ghana, Nigeria) and were submitted on the basis of border rejections. Therefore, it is necessary to continue closely monitoring imported products at the EU border to ensure food safety, avoiding fraud and adulteration and protecting consumers’ financial interests.

Keywords: European Union; food fraud and adulteration; food safety; RASFF; cluster analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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