News Room
The latest and most relevant information for your business
Turn Your RFID Chips into Food Safety Sensors
RFID chips can be turned into food fraud detectors. Researchers from MIT showed that 25% methanol in adulterated alcohol can be detected.
FoodIntegrity is Dead – Long Live FoodIntegrity!
The FoodIntregrity project was funded with approx nine million Euros by the European Commission and is coming to an end. During the final conference in Nantes, the outcomes were reported. The project with all its 62 partners has come a long way, but there is still a lot more to do. Will there be a continuation of FoodIntegrity?
Big 8 or Big 9? Will the US FDA add Sesame to its Allergen List?
The US FDA considers adding sesame to the list of regulated food allergens. The presumed prevalence of sesame allergy is 0.1%, about 10-fold lower than peanut or tree nut allergies. Why would it still make sense to add sesame to the list?
The Evolution of Food Fraud in Europe
Europe saw a dramatic increase in food fraud notifications over the past 20 years. From zero in 1999, to double digits in 2003, and triple digits in 2011. China, India, and Turkey were major contributors. lately, also Nigerian products triggered a large number of alerts.
The Food Mafia
The Food Mafia is an investigative report aired on the German public TV station 3Sat. It was a broad coverage about how food fraud can happen, how organized crime is increasingly getting involved in this lucrative business, why it goes uncovered for so long and which role government authorities and state attorneys play in preventing fraudsters from being caught.
How the European Commission Creates Opportunities for Fraudsters
A report (September 2018) of the European Commission states that European Member States face a continuous reduction of staff in inspection and competent authorities. It lead to a situation where "risk-based controls are not applied in all areas where such controls are warranted". In plain English: European consumers are at risk because governments save at the wrong end.
The Alternative to Amazon Go Has Already Arrived
Startup offers alternative to Amazon Go
Do We Need to Add a New Category to Food Fraud? Updated (2019-05-24)
Food fraud includes many aspects like dilution substitution and adulteration. What most definitions do not include is laboratory fraud. And we have seen a few cases recently from major laboratory networks. Do we need to add that and should we collectively refer to these terms more accurately as food crime? Now the Brazilian government has banned involved laboratories from inspection and withdrew their ISO 17025 accreditation.
Review of Consumer Analytical Devices Roundtable at AOAC Annual Meeting
The roundtable was comprised of the CEOs and a CTO of four startup companies: Allergy Amulet represented by Abigail Barnes, Consumer Physics by Dror Sharon, Dots Corporation by Renuka Babu, and Nima Labs by Francisco Dias Lourenco. Benefits and challenges of consumer analytical devices were discussed. Risk communication was highlighted as important.
