Post 24. Product integrity

 

Product integrity

Food integrity has been described as when a food is "genuine and undisputed in its nature, origin, identity and claims, and to meet expected properties." [1]

Product integrity means that for a food, its innate characteristics can be reliably and repeatedly assessed with certainty. Product integrity can be demonstrated by using food testing methods which demonstrate that for a batch of raw materials, ingredients, or food meets certain criteria. Alternatively, product integrity can also be described as a food when tested meets an agreed product specification, i.e. it is authentic. A food product is authentic where:

"there is a match [agreement] between the actual food product characteristics and the corresponding food product claims; when the food product actually is what the claim says that it is." [1]

Thus, a characteristic is innate in the product itself and the claim reflects the information provided about the product in associated documentation, labelling, marketing information, etc. 

Adulteration is: "A type of food fraud includes the intentional addition of a foreign or inferior substance or element; especially to prepare for sale by replacing more valuable with less valuable or inert ingredients." [1]

Substitution is: "Replacing a nutrient, an ingredient or part of a food often one with high value, with another nutrient, ingredient or part of food often one with a lower value." [1] 

There are different kinds of food fraud that can occur and adding or substituting an inferior material can be a food safety issue too. For example, the adulterant can be a toxic or harmful substance e.g. a colour that could cause cancer (carcinogenic). The adulterant could be an allergen which is then not declared on the label e.g. substituting cow's milk for coconut milk.

The adulterant can reduce the nutritional quality of the food and/or affect the food in terms of its cooking quality e.g. diluting a batch of durum wheat, with soft wheat affects the quality of the pasta that is then made into pasta or noodles when it is used. [2]

Organisations need to develop appropriate risk assessment approaches to minimise the risk of food fraud and the loss of product integrity in supply chains. This blog will cover this theme in coming weeks.

[1] https://www.nbn.be/shop/en/standard/preview/24528/en/

[2] https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodcont.2018.05.007