Many consumers lost confidence in what they eat every day following the horsemeat scandal of 2013. NFU Mutual conducted a research interviewing 2,000 people in UK to find out that 33% have less trust in products and retailers, while only 9% declared an increase in trust. As a consequence, companies have had to adapt their plans. On the one hand reinforcing consumer confidence was critical, on the other their first priority was preventing vulnerabilities in global supply chains.
Despite all the effort, food fraud is still an ongoing problem and the fraudulent blending of food products is a problem on a global scale. In March 2018, the European Commission launched its “Knowledge Center”, a network where experts can share scientific expertise to combat food fraud. In US, the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) aims to protect food from adulteration; it provides specific rules for the benefit of consumers. While food safety will be one of the major topics of discussion in the upcoming GFSI congress in Nice, companies have to face other questions: how can they reduce the time-consuming research of regulations and news if they have to jump from one site to another? How can they trust the results of web research?
Modern technology powered by AI is answering these needs. Food Fraud Watch is SGS Digicomply’s database dedicated to global food fraud surveillance. This single platform is constantly updating and aggregating facts from the most relevant sources, such as trade associations, governments and media.
Only by knowing the materials, ingredients and their associated risks can companies run vulnerability assessments, be trustworthy, profitable and competitive on the market.