Economically motivated adulteration (EMA) occurs when someone intentionally leaves out, takes out, or substitutes a valuable ingredient or part of a food. Separate estimates by experts have found that food fraud affects 1% of the global food industry at a cost of about $10-$15 billion a year, although some more recent expert estimates put the cost as high as $40 billion a year.

Food Fraud isn’t just an economic issue, though. Depending on what is added, substituted, or left out, food fraud can lead to health issues, some major, and even death. Some examples include lead poisoning from adulterated spices and allergic reactions to a hidden, substituted ingredient that contains even just one food allergen.

In this introductory course, you are going to learn about the concept of food fraud, the causes of food fraud, the economic impact of food fraud, and prevention strategies. I will also provide some examples that can you understand the concept. Moreover, I present the interconnection between food safety, food defense, and food fraud. Throughout the assessment and preparation for any of the systems i.e. HACCP, TACCP, and VACCP, there is a good chance that you can merge activities, reduce cost and improve the overall food protection.