Most frequent food fraud ingredients are olive oil, milk, honey, saffron, orange juice, coffee, apple juice, study finds
Nevin Barich
LOS ANGELES
,
April 6, 2012
(Industry Intelligence)
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According to research commissioned by the Department of Homeland Security, the most frequent food fraud ingredients are olive oil, milk, honey, saffron, orange juice, coffee and apple juice, MSNBC reported April 5.
In order to find the most common food fraud ingredients, U.S. Pharmacopeial Convention researchers compiled a database of media reports and academic articles — 1,305 in all — that dealt with food fraud.
Food fraud is defined as any addition, substitution, tampering with or misrepresentation of ingredients in order to generate profit. Sometimes food fraud can have serious public health consequences. A particularly pertinent example is melamine, an industrial chemical that has been used as a protein substitute and has killed children around the globe. Although there are reports that it was used in food as early as 1979, melamine largely was not on the radar until it was found in pet food in 2007. In 2008, the substance was then found in powdered milk and infant formula.
The primary source of this article is MSNBC, New York, New York, reported on April 5, 2012.
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