Food Fraud

The term Food fraud refers to the production and distribution of foods that do not comply with current regulations relating to the product and/or health characteristics of the products and which all producers and/or retailers should comply with when marketing a food.

Food fraud can be of two types: health-related or commercial.

Health fraud refers to a modification of the product which can also make it dangerous for the consumer's health. Health fraud can therefore have consequences on health as potentially harmful degradation products, exogenous chemicals or microbial contaminants may be present in foods. In this case, both whoever produced the food and whoever marketed and distributed it are sanctioned. Even the mere fact of placing dangerous substances on the market without them actually being sold, or the free distribution of products unsuitable for food consumption, is considered a crime.

Commercial fraud occurs when, during the sale of a product, the buyer is provided with false information relating to the product itself, such as the sale of food of a different origin, quality or quantity from that declared. This type of fraud causes economic damage to the consumer as the products sold actually have a lower commercial value.

Among the most widespread commercial frauds we find:

• Adulteration : This is a modification of the original composition of the food. It is caused by the replacement of a part of the product with similar but poorer quality components. An example of adulteration is adding roasted barley to ground coffee or adding seed oil to EVOO to sell it on the market as pure EVOO.
• Sophistication : consists of modifying a poor quality food to make it similar to an excellent quality product. It involves adding elements to the product that are not useful to its composition but which improve its external appearance and cover its defects. An example of sophistication is the addition of yellow dyes to the pasta to make it look like egg or sulfur dioxide to the minced meat so as to make it bright red.
• Falsification : it is defined by the substitution of one product with another as can happen for example by substituting margarine instead of butter.
• Counterfeiting : consists of deceiving a consumer by making a product appear genuine but which is actually composed, in whole or in part, of substances different in quality and quantity from those which normally contribute to forming it. In this case the buyer is deceived about the quality and purity of the product, an example of this being reproductions of "Made in Italy" products from other countries.
• Alteration : We talk about alteration when a food is sold as regular when in reality it has undergone modifications in its components or nutrients which modify its physical, chemical and/or organoleptic properties due, for example, to incorrect storage. An example of alteration is the modification of the expiry date on the label or the reclamation of deteriorated foods to put them back on the market as fresh products.

Common among food frauds is the one relating to the sale of dried mushrooms! In fact, there are some companies that import already dried mushrooms from Morocco, southern Africa and China with low guarantees in terms of safety and these only carry out the selection based on the product quality and finally their packaging.

IoBoscoVivo shiitake mushrooms are organic foods of European origin, furthermore for all our products we guarantee authenticity by respecting organoleptic (odor, flavour, colour, etc.), physical (weight, temperature, etc.), hygienic and chemical standards and we carry out the microbiological and shelf-life analyzes so as to guarantee the consumer a product with controlled health and hygiene quality.

Discover our philosophy and our products by consulting our website https://ioboscovivo.com/shop/ !

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