Food Fraud: Protecting your Brand Through Transparency

Online Video Panel Discussion

Food fraud originated as a way to extend a food’s primary ingredients for added profit. As our food supply becomes more globalized, fraudsters are using the importation process to take advantage of food companies wherever they can. According to the FDA, the number of adulterated food products they are seeing has tripled over the past 10 years. And, as supply chains become increasingly complex and fragmented, it is becoming harder to detect cases of adulteration. What’s more, some food companies seeking new ways to keep pricing down are outsourcing to suppliers who are tempted to substitute, sometimes at the cost of the safety and the integrity of the company’s brand.

From olive oil, to honey and even horsemeat, consumers are unwittingly purchasing and consuming food that may have been adulterated or tampered with, and this can seriously compromise their health. As consumers become aware of these incidents through main stream and social media, they start to turn away from brands they once trusted, which can impact your food brand: food fraud can not only harm your consumers, it can also threaten your profits!