Historically the most common form of intentional adulteration has been for economic reasons through substitution, dilution, enhancement of appearance or misbranding. But it has also involved diversion, transshipping and theft to feed a gray market. Intentional product adulteration has a dark side with attempts to cause economic adulteration to individuals or companies. It has also resulted in deaths of humans and animals. This is a global issue. Examples of economic adulteration includes juices, pet food, baby formula, seafood, oils, honey, spices, extracts, grain products, alcoholic beverages to name a few.
Intentional adulteration can be silent long term actions to high profile news events with public threats of contamination or false reports that can damage public confidence in product safety. Acts of intentional adulteration can take place at any point in the food distribution chain and can be from an internal source or from an external source. While these cases have been limited there is a history of individual prosecutions and fines leveled against companies but economic burden is far greater for companies and the public.
United States Congress included a requirement in the 2011 Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) requiring the Food and Drug Administration to issue regulations and guidance on intentional adulteration. Preventive controls are key elements in protecting a firm from being a victim of intentional contamination and, more importantly, the consumer.
This symposium will highlight the impact of food adulteration what industry and regulators are doing to minimize the risks of adulteration in the food chain, especially FSMA requirements for innovative methods to detect adulteration and for targeting crucial resources toward the riskiest food products.