Food Fraud

Pointing, John, Ramadan Al-Teinaz, Yunes, Lever, John ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2188-8518, Critchley, Mary and Spear, Stuart (2020) Food Fraud. In: The Halal Food Handbook. Wiley, pp. 321-329. ISBN 9781118823125 (print); 9781118823026 (online)

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Abstract

Halal food is essential for people of Islamic faith, and is, perhaps, particularly vulnerable to fraud and adulteration compared to non-halal. While there are specific problems for Muslims around the authenticity of halal meat and associated certification practices, the wider implications of food fraud are global and can affect people of all religions and beliefs. The various types of food fraud include substituting a cheaper ingredient for a more expensive one, adulteration, dilution, counterfeiting, the inclusion of unapproved enhancements, and mislabelling. They also include the diversion of unfit meat from the pet food trade into the human food chain, freezing out-of-date meat and re-dating it, and the deliberate selling of non-halal meat (haram) as if it were halal. The Food Standards Agency has a statutory duty under section 1 of the Food Standards Act 1999 to protect the interests of all consumers, including Muslims.