{"id":84511,"date":"2026-09-30T10:15:46","date_gmt":"2026-09-30T08:15:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ainia.com\/food-fraud-problem-supply-chain\/"},"modified":"2026-09-30T10:15:46","modified_gmt":"2026-09-30T08:15:46","slug":"food-fraud-problem-supply-chain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ainia.com\/en\/ainia-news\/food-fraud-problem-supply-chain\/","title":{"rendered":"Food fraud: the signals that can anticipate a problem in the supply chain"},"content":{"rendered":"

Changes in price, shortages of raw materials or the entry of new intermediaries can alter a company\u2019s exposure to food fraud. Identifying these signals and understanding how the supply chain works makes it possible to review controls before an incident occurs.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Food fraud can take many different forms: substitution of a raw material, addition of an undeclared ingredient, falsification of documents or a misleading claim about the origin of a product. Its consequences are not limited to economic loss either. An incident of fraud can affect food safety, compromise traceability and damage trust in a brand. <\/p>\n

To anticipate it, it is important to understand the conditions that make fraud possible. Three factors usually come together: there is a potential economic benefit, there is an opportunity to alter the product or its information, and the probability of detection is perceived to be low. Analysing these factors helps identify where monitoring should be focused. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A documented supply chain is not always a controlled supply chain<\/strong><\/h3>\n

O caso da carne de cavalo detetada em produtos rotulados como carne de bovino na Europa mostrou uma fragilidade que continua a ser relevante: dispor de especifica\u00e7\u00f5es e certificados n\u00e3o garante, por si s\u00f3, que se conhe\u00e7a toda a cadeia de abastecimento.<\/p>\n

When a raw material passes through several operators, it is necessary to understand who is involved, where the product is transformed and at which points a substitution could occur. Therefore, when assessing exposure to fraud, the company should look beyond its direct supplier and assess the complexity of the supply chain behind it. <\/p>\n

The practical question is: could we detect a substitution before incorporating this raw material into our process?<\/strong> The answer will depend both on the information provided by the supplier and on the ability to verify it.<\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

What an analysis really demonstrates<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The adulteration of infant milk with melamine in China illustrates another essential issue: an apparently compliant result does not always demonstrate that a product is authentic. In that case, the addition of melamine could alter the result of an indirect control used to estimate protein content, while the product remained adulterated and posed a health risk. <\/p>\n

This example invites a review of controls from the perspective of intentional adulteration. It is not enough to ask which parameters are analysed. It is also necessary to assess what information each result provides, which possible alterations it can detect and which could go unnoticed. <\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

Authenticity requires combining evidence<\/strong><\/h3>\n

For products with a high degree of natural variability, such as honey or olive oil, demonstrating authenticity can be particularly complex. Product characteristics may change depending on origin, season or production conditions. Added to this are possible fraudulent practices involving mixtures, substitutions or misleading claims about provenance. <\/p>\n

In these cases, an individual analysis can provide an indication, but it should be interpreted alongside other evidence: documentation, traceability, knowledge of the supplier, the structure of its supply chain and available market information. The selection of analytical tests should also respond to the specific type of fraud that is intended to be detected. <\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

Risk changes when the market changes<\/strong><\/h3>\n

An assessment carried out months ago may no longer reflect the current situation. A sharp rise in prices, a shortage of a raw material, a new country of origin or the addition of a supplier can increase the incentive or opportunity to commit fraud. None of these circumstances proves that an irregularity exists, but they do justify reviewing the assessment and, where appropriate, strengthening controls. <\/p>\n

Prevention therefore requires maintaining vigilance over what happens both inside and outside the company. Internal incidents, complaints, alerts and sector information can provide useful signals for detecting new vulnerabilities. <\/p>\n

The aim is not to consider every raw material subject to commercial pressure as suspicious. It is to recognise when the conditions on which the control plan was designed have changed<\/strong> and decide whether it is still sufficient. In this way, fraud assessment ceases to be a static snapshot and becomes a tool for anticipating problems. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Changes in price, shortages of raw materials or the entry of new intermediaries can alter a company\u2019s exposure to food fraud. Identifying these signals and understanding how the supply chain works makes it possible to review controls before an incident occurs. Food fraud can take many different forms: substitution of a raw material, addition of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1796,"featured_media":84510,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[79,87],"tags":[642,641,603,604,640,639],"tipo-documento":[],"class_list":["post-84511","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ainia-news","category-technological-innovation","tag-adulteracao-de-alimentos","tag-food-authenticity-2","tag-food-fraud","tag-food-fraud-prevention","tag-food-supply-chain","tag-food-traceability"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nfood-fraud-problem-supply-chain<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Discover which signals can increase the risk of food fraud in the supply chain and when it is advisable to review traceability and controls.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, 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