The European Commission has released its third monthly report, revealing a continual increase in suspected fraud cases across European countries. The number of reported suspicions has risen from 277 in January to 345 in March, indicating a concerning trend.
These suspicions encompass various sectors, including food, animal feed, food-contact materials, animal welfare, plant protection products, and veterinary medicines. While not confirmed, these issues prompt investigations by authorities in EU member states.
The report, collated from the Alert and Cooperation Network (ACN), Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF), Administrative Assistance and Cooperation Network (AAC), and the Agri-Food Fraud Network (FFN), aims to aid national authorities in organizing risk-based controls and assisting the food sector with vulnerability assessments.
Fruit and vegetables topped the list with 113 notices, followed by dietetic foods, supplements, and fortified foods with 33 alerts, and cereals and bakery products with 27 notices. Most issues were flagged during border inspections or market controls, with some identified through whistleblower information, media monitoring, consumer complaints, or internal company checks.
Notably, ten cases involved the United States, citing concerns such as unauthorized additives in candy and snacks, and supplements containing ingredients not authorized in Europe. Additionally, countries like Turkey, China, and India were frequently mentioned in the notifications.
Highlighted incidents included product tampering cases such as additives not compliant with EU regulations, adulteration examples like mislabeling of meat products, and unapproved processes such as irradiation of supplements.
Non-compliance issues ranged from record tampering, falsified producers, to concerns about transport temperatures and unauthorized placing of products on the market. Traceability defects and products skipping border controls were also cited in several alerts.
Source: FSN
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