| Markets | Cambodia, Colombia, Greece, Italy Peru, Portugal, Spain, United States of America, European Union, International |
| Organization | Knowledge for Policy (European Commission) |
| Topic | General Law and Standards |
Monthly summary of articles of food fraud records, as summarized by the EU Joint Research Centre: - Several recalls of honey in Greece due to adulteration, with exogenous sugars and additional pigments. - Enormous operation of Spanish authorities, supported by Europol, unveiled fraudulent activity with saffron in Spain. Saffron imported mostly from Iran was: a) mixed with floral remains, styles and stamens (illegally increasing the volume); b) treated with unsafe colorants not authorised for human consumption; and c) mislabelled as a Spanish PDO (a Geographical Indication). - Seafood and fish again on the list with several incidents in Peru, Spain, Italy, and Portugal. The criminals falsified the origin of the bivalves (mostly Japanese clams) contaminated by a high level of toxins and pathogens. Taxes were evaded as well. - Geographical Indication (GI) and traceability issues with meat in Italy and Spain. - Another major incident with devastating death casualties due to alcohol adulteration took place in Cambodia. - Saudi Arabia has implemented a new traceability system where producers of organic fruit and vegetable commodities (fruits and vegetables) have to mark their products with a dynamic QR code sticker. - Europol has released the analysis report of the operation OPSON IX: Animal food represents the most seized category, alcoholic beverages represent the first category of seized goods in terms of value.
