The European Food Integrity project started at the beginning of the year, and is intended to promote the use of research and development to ensure the integrity of European food. Matís participates in the project which aims to develop methods for detecting and preventing fraud in the European food industry.
In the food industry, as elsewhere, integrity is a prerequisite for the consumer to trust the product, but food manufacturers have felt the effects when customers' trust is damaged due to scandal, but many no doubt remember the tragedy that followed the emergence of horsemeat instead of beef in many ready-made dishes. An examination in Iceland has revealed that the descriptions of the contents are not always correct, for example, meat was not detected in beef pies produced in Iceland.
Safety, reliability and quality
The project is led by Fera, the British Food and Environment Research Institute, and is called FoodIntegrity or MatarHeilindi. The project is to ensure that food is in accordance with the description of the ingredients and is in perfect condition, ie that buyers can safely deliver the product they think they are buying. Integrity and trust are key to adding value to a product. By ensuring that the consumer trusts the product, manufacturers and other stakeholders are strengthening their position in the market.
The integrity of European foodstuffs is constantly threatened by fraudulent labeling or counterfeiting, as the counterfeit food industry continues to grow. The results of the project are intended to be the focus of international co-ordination on the use of research and development to ensure the integrity of European food with the participation of the core group of the project.
Resistance against product fraud
Food Integrity logically coordinates processes within a comprehensive framework to ensure food supply and facilitate the dissemination of information on food integrity stakeholders. Existing databases should be utilized through coordination and a methodology appropriate to the purpose should be implemented, addressing the needs of stakeholders and dealing with gaps left by the research results.
Sustainable arrangements should be put in place for timely warnings of potential product fraud to counteract the growing risk of fraud following fraud. Stakeholders' global co-operation should be initiated to ensure that the results of the project are utilized. Improved verification processes will be developed for quality management of stakeholders in the food industry, the case studies of the project are based on the participation of producers of seafood, beverages and olive oil. A study of consumer attitudes in the light of counterfeits in the European food industry will be carried out. The intention is to establish an independent forum for the verification of the integrity of foodstuffs that may impose authenticity or counterfeiting on the parties seeking it.
Further information about the project is provided Jónas R. Viðarsson, director of Matís.