John W. Spink - Food Fraud Prevention

Food Microbiology and Food Safety Series

The Food Microbiology and Food Safety series is published in conjunction with the International Association for Food Protection, a non-profit association for food safety professionals. Dedicated to the life-long educational needs of its Members, IAFP provides an information network through its two scientific journals (Food Protection Trends and Journal of Food Protection), its educational Annual Meeting, international meetings and symposia, and interaction between food safety professionals.

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This book deals with a crucial matter regarding food. The problem of food fraud, unfortunately, has been with us as long as the history of food trade. The oldest recorded food laws attempt to deter it. In Babylon, you might be thrown into the Euphrates with a millstone around your neck for the adulteration of flour. In the fourth century BC, the Greek Theophrastus reported on the use of food adulterants for economic reasons in Enquiry into Plants . Pliny the Elder in Natural History provides evidence of widespread adulteration, such as bread adulterated with chalk to make it whiter and pepper adulterated with juniper berries in economic fraud.

John Spink brings an important perspective to this field. Food lawyers tend to look at food fraud from a legal liability viewpoint. Yet, reputational damage can far exceed the penalties in the laws. Food safety experts tend to approach the topic as health and safety risks. Yet, the clever fraudsters seek economic advantage and may present to health risk. Food scientists see the challenges in standards, detection, and testing. Yet, there can be adulterated food that contains no adulterant. Criminologists see motive and opportunity. Yet, the nature of supply chains can muddle such analysis. To deal with these seeming contradictions, John Spink brings a multidisciplinary approach to the topic.

The problem of food fraud is global in nature. Food fraud concerns public health but goes beyond to economic loss and harm to consumer confidence in individual companies and also loss of confidence in the integrity of the food supply. This has been with us since the beginning of food trade and will be with us as long as there is a trade in food. Knowledge is the key to food fraud prevention. And there has never been a better time for this book.