Discussions about fraud and non-compliance in Europe increased in August compared to the month before. Three reports concerned the United States.
There were 166 reports in August, compared to 136 in July, 164 in June and 129 in May.
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 38 reports mentioned dietary foods, dietary supplements, and fortified foods. In second place were confectionery products with 14 reviews, and in third place were fruits and vegetables with 11 reviews.
Most problems were identified through market monitoring. In 10 cases, the detection method was an internal company audit, and in 19 cases, a consumer complaint. From the reporting information, two problems were discovered.
August Highlights
In August, three alerts concerned the United States. These were steviol glucosides in a flavored beverage; acesulfame K and sucralose in lemonade; and yohimbine in dietary supplements.
Examples of adulteration were beef in horse meat from Poland and other vegetable oils in extra virgin olive oil from Greece.
Titanium dioxide, mainly found in sweets, has been a common problem. Three of the notices concerned ethylene oxide in products from India. Sudan-2 was found in curry powder from the Netherlands.
Record cases of adulteration included gluten in gluten-free meatballs from Denmark and the alleged fraudulent use of another operator's identity for dietary supplements in Spain.
In terms of traceability defects, there was suspicion of falsification of the origin of pistachio kernels from Turkey rather than Iran, as well as eggs from non-EU countries labeled with an EU producer code. Another problem was the discrepancy between labels and documents for duck meat from China and rice from Vietnam.
Several alerts were caused by an unauthorized operator. These include additives in Germany, beef ribs in Hungary and sausages in Austria.
Food products from Afghanistan were transported under unsuitable conditions, and there was also an attempt to illegally import animal products from Moldova.
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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