Abstract:
To make the best use of limited resources, regulatory authorities and food companies must prioritise risk management actions towards risk-based approaches. They should also focus on risks with the greatest public health impact. Food safety crises can lead to substantial costs to corporations, countries, consumers, and even for an entire food segment ‘from farm to fork’. In this scenario, food fraud must be effectively prevented and mitigated after a suitable vulnerability assessment based on the most relevant knowledge available. The purpose of this study was to develop a robust method for evaluating public health and economic impact of food fraud, in addition to the assessment of vulnerability factors proposed by expert panels. In other words, a spreadsheet wherein a regulatory agency or a food corporation, could evaluate these three components together by customising the relative weights, and designing and adjusting criteria to make more informed decisions, thus prioritising the allocation of resources. The criteria were mainly data-driven, based on nearly 1,000 food fraud incident records from around the globe. All relevant information recorded in the United States Pharmacopeia (USP) Food Fraud Database has been analyzed to provide invaluable prevention and mitigation insights. The tool is divided into three main modules. The red module refers to the public health assessment, the blue assesses the vulnerability of the ingredients, and the green and last module evaluates the economic impact. The methodology chosen is based on two main benchmarks: a US-FDA risk-ranking tool for microbiological hazards in fresh produce and a New Zealand document from the Ministry for Primary Industries used to update entire food legislation towards a risk-based approach. Furthermore, the USP Mitigation Guidance developed by a food fraud expert panel was essential in determing some public health criteria, supplemented by World Health Organization-risk assessment principles. Finally, this tool has been tested to compare food ingredients regarding their vulnerability and impact on decision-making processes of risk managers by assessing public health factors and the food fraud history. Resources can be directed towards higher risks and weaker points to prevent and mitigate negative public health exposure and the financial impact. Keywords: food fraud, risk-based approach, risk-ranking tool, vulnerability assessment, and USP Food Fraud Database.