The latest batch of warnings about suspected fraud and non-compliance in Europe includes dietary supplements, meat products, fish and chocolate.
There were 164 reports in September, compared to 166 in August, 136 in July, 164 in June and 129 in May. In September, three alerts concerned the United States. Two of them involved dietary supplements and the other involved whey protein that passed border controls.
The problems listed are potential scams. Non-compliance may result in investigations by the authorities of EU Member States. Details taken from a monthly report published by the European Commission.
Data includes topics of suspected cross-border fraud exchanged among Alert and Cooperation Network (ACN) members.
A total of 36 reports mentioned dietary foods, dietary supplements, and fortified foods. In second place were confectionery with 18 reviews and 10 reviews of wine.
Most problems were identified through market monitoring. In five cases, the detection method was an internal company audit, and in 12 cases, a consumer complaint.
September Highlights
A tuna burger from Spain was found to have levels of ascorbic acid above the maximum limit. This additive can be used to add brighter color and freshness to tuna. There were also suspicions of redness and the addition of water to frozen tuna from Vietnam.
In cases of suspected adulteration, extra virgin olive oil and olive oil from Lebanon and Italy contained other vegetable oils.
Two notices mentioned Dubai chocolate. One from Turkey was due to tartrazine, and the other from Poland contained peanuts, but the label only said, “May contain peanuts.”
An alert was raised by Ireland over suspected counterfeit chocolates from the UK, and another alert was raised over beef sold past its expiry date in Poland.
The eggs from Ukraine did not have an identification mark, and the eggs from the Netherlands did not have a known registration number or country code.
There have been several allegations of fraudulent invoices or labels relating to salmon, fruits and vegetables, and various products from Latvia.
Kratom has been found in sweets from the Czech Republic and irradiated paprika from China.
In one case, cattle from Romania did not have an identification tag, health certificate or passport, but were subject to animal welfare violations. Another case involved an attempt to smuggle animal products from Sri Lanka that were concealed in plant products and misrepresented as non-animal products.
In Spain, there was a change in labeling and distribution of meat products by an operator without a valid permit. Other finds include unlabeled meat products from Austria and unknown origins of wild boar meat.
There have been temperature problems when transporting frozen food in Sweden and poultry in the Netherlands.
A number of non-compliances include ingredients not permitted in the EU, products that have failed border controls, and residues of veterinary drugs and pesticides exceeding maximum residue levels (MRLs).
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