Probe into 'food fraud' finds unwanted ingredients in herbs and spices

SPICED UP: The largest-ever investigation into the authenticity of culinary herbs and spices sold to consumers in the EU found that 17% of all products were suspected of containing unauthorised products, colouring or dyes.

Almost one-fifth of all herbs and spices sold in the EU are suspected of being adulterated with other ingredients, a major new study has revealed.

The largest-ever investigation into the authenticity of culinary herbs and spices sold to consumers in the EU found that 17% of all products were suspected of containing unauthorised products, colouring or dyes.

The study was commissioned by the European Commission amid concerns over the scale of “food fraud” arising from adulterated herbs and spices being on sale within the EU and fears the presence of unidentified bulking or colouring agents were going undetected.

The study by the EU’s Joint Research Centre found the biggest problem with supplies of oregano with almost half of all samples of the herb containing other ingredients, mostly olive leaves.

Peppered with other things

It found that 48% of oregano samples were suspected of being adulterated as well as 17% of pepper samples, 14% of cumin, 11% of turmeric, 11% of saffron and 6% of paprika/chilli.

The JRC carried out almost 10,000 tests on 1,900 samples of mostly ground or crushed herbs and spices which were considered most at risk of fraudulent or non-compliant manipulations, including 63 samples from Ireland. 

The Food Safety Authority of Ireland which participated in the research, said understanding and mapping the supply chains of a globally traded commodity that was high value by weight helped to identify vulnerabilities.

The FSAI’s director of audits and investigation, Peter Whelan, said factors such as seasonality, harvesting time, climate, geographical events and cultural influences “create tension in the marketplace.” 

“This causes a large fluctuation in prices and this is what creates food fraud profitability for fraudsters,” said Mr Whelan.

The FSAI director said it was necessary to tackle food fraud in order to protect the health and interests of consumers.

It is also important that while doing that we create a level playing field for compliant industry and that we ensure that fraudsters operating food chains don’t gain unfair competitive advantage.

The majority of suspicious samples contained non-declared plant material, while non-authorised dyes were detected in 2% of spice samples.

The study found a high level of lead chromate – a compound that can cause damage to the kidney, brain and nervous system – in one sample of turmeric.

Around 100,000 tonnes of herbs and spices are produced in the EU each year with over 379,000 tons imported from non-EU countries, mostly east Asia.

The JRC said fraudulent manipulation of herbs and spices could occur at each stage within a complex supply chain, from production, shipping and processing until the product reaches the market.

It said some herbs and spices might also have a valuable constituent omitted or removed.

“Supply chains in the herbs and spices sectors tend to be long, complex and can pass through many countries” the report stated.

Often, herbs and spices are farmed at a subsistence scale in non-EU countries and there are frequently many intermediaries in the supply chain offering opportunities for malpractices and/or fraudulent practices.

A poll carried out by the European Commission last year found 61% of Europeans were concerned about being misled about the true qualities of food products.