Food Fraud Annual Report 2023 to 2024

ISSN: 2819-0890

On this page

• Executive summary
  • Marketplace monitoring
  • Targeted inspectorate activities
• Introduction
  • Acts and regulations
• Prevent
  • Risk intelligence, analysis and program design
  • Promoting awareness
  • International collaboration
• Detect
  • Methodology research and development
  • Verifying organic products
  • Surveillance: inspection, sampling, testing and results
  • Sampling and testing
• Deter
  • Enforcement
  • Prosecutions: charges and convictions
• Next steps

Executive summary

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is Canada's leading authority on food fraud oversight. This report shares how we prevented a significant amount of misrepresented food from being sold in Canada.

Between April 1, 2023, and March 31, 2024, we conducted a number of activities to prevent, detect and deter food fraud. Activities included:

• monitoring and analyzing risks and planning mitigation activities
• promoting awareness
• working with international counterparts
• advancing research and method development
• targeting surveillance and taking enforcement action where appropriate

We conducted 2 types of sampling during this timeframe: marketplace monitoring sampling (also referred to as targeted surveys) and targeted inspectorate sampling.

• Marketplace monitoring sampling involves samples collected by an independent third party contracted by the CFIA and occurs only at retail stores to gauge overall compliance of certain food products in the Canadian marketplace
• Targeted inspectorate sampling involves inspection and sampling by CFIA inspectors at different types of food businesses such as importers, domestic processors and retailers
  • The likelihood of finding non-compliance is higher because it targets food businesses associated with risk factors such as a history of non-compliance, gaps in preventive controls or unusual trading patterns

Marketplace monitoring

Marketplace monitoring during this period included sampling and testing for authenticity and misrepresentation of:

• coconut water
• fresh meat
• spices
• sunflower oil
• tea

323 marketplace monitoring samples were assessed to detect specific types of misrepresentation through laboratory analysis. Results demonstrated high compliance, except for coconut water which was lower.

Targeted inspectorate activities

Targeted inspectorate activities during this period included inspecting, sampling, and testing for authenticity and misrepresentation of:

• fish
• honey
• meat
• olive oil
• organic fresh or frozen fruits and vegetables
• other expensive oils
• grated hard cheese
• fruit juice
• other foods

712 targeted samples were assessed to detect specific types of misrepresentation through laboratory analysis. We also conducted 345 label verifications, including basic label verifications and net quantity verifications. Overall, compliance rates were similar to previous years. Highlights include:

• grated hard cheese, olive oil and other expensive oils had the lowest satisfactory rates for authenticity testing, whereas fish, fruit juice, meat and honey had the highest
• fish, olive oil and other expensive oils had the lowest compliance rates for label verifications, while organic fresh fruit and vegetables, grated hard cheese and other foods had the highest

Note: our sampling approach changes from year to year, therefore, it's not accurate to infer food fraud trends in Canada by comparing results from different years. Program design is continually improving and this surveillance is not intended to measure overall compliance rates across the Canadian marketplace, making year-to-year comparisons unreliable.

For example, to increase the likelihood of detecting food misrepresentation, we focus our targeted inspectorate activities on higher risks. As a result, targeted inspectorate activities find higher rates of non-compliance than if they were to include all products and food businesses across the marketplace. Our ability to find food misrepresentation is continually improving, which may result in more fraud detection year after year. As such, these results are not representative of overall compliance rates within the Canadian marketplace.

Where we found non-compliance, we took control and enforcement actions, guided by the applicable regulations and the CFIA's Standard Regulatory Response Process. Control and enforcement actions included removing products from Canada and detaining, destroying or relabeling products, which prevented misrepresented food from being sold in Canada. These actions directly protected consumers from misrepresentation and allowed businesses to compete fairly in the market.

Introduction

Food fraud is a priority under the Food Policy for Canada. As part of this initiative, the CFIA addresses food misrepresentation that falls within its statutory mandate. It does this through strategies to prevent, detect and deter false, misleading or deceptive practices related to the manufacturing, preparation, labelling, selling, importing or advertising of food. Health Canada works with the CFIA on this initiative. For the purpose of this report, our work on food misrepresentation is referred to as "food fraud".

Food fraud may occur when food is misrepresented. It's an issue that has been identified around the world. In Canada, it's prohibited to sell food in a manner that is false, misleading or deceptive. Industry is responsible for properly representing and labelling food products.

We take food fraud seriously. Oversight activities center on 3 themes:

• prevent
• detect
• deter

This report summarizes the work done under each of these themes for the fiscal year April 1, 2023, to March 31, 2024. Activities described in this report are from that time period unless indicated otherwise.

Acts and regulations

Canada continues to be a leader in safe and reputable food, and its regulatory framework is highly regarded internationally. We carry out inspection, sampling, testing and enforcement activities under the following authorities:

• Canadian Food Inspection Agency Act
• Food and Drugs Act
• Food and Drug Regulations
• Safe Food for Canadians Act
• Safe Food for Canadians Regulations

Food businesses are responsible for complying with regulatory requirements and the CFIA conducts inspection activities to verify if businesses are meeting their statutory and regulatory obligations.

Prevent

For the purpose of this report, prevention means the proactive CFIA measures taken to avoid the misrepresentation of food that is produced, processed or sold in Canada.

Risk intelligence, analysis, and program design

As in previous years, we continue to analyze inspection and sampling results as well as intelligence about misrepresentation risks in Canada to identify suitable activities to mitigate these risks. Program design work is continually improved to respond to areas of highest impact, including emerging risks.

Key activities included compiling and analyzing the following types of information:

• monthly situational awareness reports
• intelligence reports on juices and coconut water, mixed spices, and shrimp, crustaceans and scallops
• an environmental scan of scientific methods for detecting food fraud

The CFIA and Health Canada continue to combine their situational awareness and environmental scanning work. This year's activities focused on exploring issues affecting the food supply that could introduce food fraud vulnerabilities and identifying priority areas for monitoring activities in the Canadian context.

We also engaged with industry associations and partners about the possibility of establishing a Food Industry Intelligence Network (FIIN) in Canada, similar to the model established in the United Kingdom (UK). The UK FIIN model is led by the food industry. Members of the network generate anonymized data that is shared between its members and with regulators. This sharing of information can improve understanding of food fraud risks in the supply chain. It is a proactive way to mitigate those risks, which are part of industry's responsibility to maintain preventive controls and ensure compliance. Activities included:

• facilitating a virtual presentation with FIIN organizers from the UK that 55 Canadian industry representatives attended
• seeking stakeholder feedback on the UK model, including whether there was interest in establishing a similar model in Canada
• engaging with other federal government departments regarding funding and competition considerations

While some stakeholders saw value in a model similar to FIIN in Canada, industry has not indicated any immediate plans to establish something similar in Canada at this time.

Using a questionnaire, we also consulted with the provinces and territories to better understand food misrepresentation-related activities and authorities at that level. This information will be used to identify potential areas of collaboration between federal and provincial and territorial partners.

Promoting awareness

This year, we focused on raising awareness and understanding with consumers and industry, in these areas:

• what food fraud is
• what their roles are in detecting and preventing it
• how to report a concern
• fish and seafood labelling and traceability

International collaboration

We continued to reach out to our foreign counterparts to provide information on non-compliant products originating from their jurisdiction and raise awareness of potential food fraud situations. This included sending 9 letters to foreign competent authorities to share details on 55 non-compliance issues. In several instances, foreign competent authorities shared the details of their follow up actions and findings, as well as information on the programs and activities they have in place to combat food fraud in their own territory. These efforts contribute to preventing food fraud in foods imported into Canada.

We continued our active involvement in the Global Alliance on Food Crime, a coalition of food authorities from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States. Members of the Global Alliance have agreed to work together to prevent, detect and disrupt food fraud, which collectively increases our impact, given the global nature of food supply chains. Members have established terms of reference, drafted a workplan and started working on joint activities. This partnership allows Canada to contribute and benefit from information sharing, expertise, best practices and coordinated activities.

Finally, our technical experts delivered seminars to foreign trading partners from the Indo-Pacific region and the Americas about the Canada Organic Regime and our approach to prevent and control food fraud. This outreach fosters international cooperation to combat food fraud and contributes to increasing the compliance of imported foods with Canadian requirements.

Detect

For the purpose of this report, detect means the active determination of food fraud occurring.

We detect food fraud through activities such as:

• inspecting
• reviewing documentation and records
• conducting label verifications
• doing net quantity verifications
• sampling and testing

Methodology research and development

The CFIA and Health Canada continue to develop new analytical methods to detect food fraud and product misrepresentation and improve current ones.

This year, we completed preliminary studies to identify a DNA based analytical method for meat speciation which will enhance the ability to identify and quantify meat species adulteration and substitution in cooked and uncooked meat products.

We also continued research for:

• tuna speciation: method development and validation of DNA barcoding for tuna species
• high value oils: expanding the capacity for testing and evaluating additional high value oils for authenticity

Each year, we evaluate if there are any gaps in available techniques to detect food fraud, often related to emerging issues and develops research needs and priorities based on this information. This year, research began on these projects:

• turmeric authenticity (started and completed): development of a rapid, non-targeted method to detect specific adulterants used as colours and bulking agents in ground turmeric using infrared and atomic emission spectroscopy
• saffron authenticity: using genomics and non-targeted methods to identify saffron and distinguish it from its common adulterants
• alcoholic beverage adulteration: development of a method to detect and quantify adulteration of alcoholic beverages using a small molecule analytic method
• coffee and tea adulteration: development of a genomics method to detect substitution and adulteration in coffee and tea

Initially reported in the Food Fraud Annual Report 2021 to 2022 and Food Fraud Annual Report 2022 to 2023, Health Canada continues to lead 3 multi-year research projects:

• a proteomics project for authentication of ground spices
• a small-molecule chemometrics project for beverage authentication
• a proteomics project to test for authenticity of plant-based protein sources

The proteomics project on ground spices has progressed, and peptide spectral libraries have been created for saffron and common plant adulterants. These were used to develop a targeted method to detect saffron proteins and some typical substitutions.

The small-molecule chemometrics project has also progressed and a non-targeted method for pomegranate juice authentication was developed to determine substitution with other juices (for example, grape, apple and pear juices).

The proteomics project to test for authenticity of plant-based protein sources has also progressed. The goal is to detect and differentiate between unlabelled legume and bean sources used as fillers in meat and vegan products that could pose a risk for allergic consumers. Spectral libraries have been created for common legumes and beans and these libraries were used to select peptide markers for developing a targeted method.

Verifying organic products

Anyone who suspects a violation of the Canada Organic Regime (COR) (for example, fraudulent organic claims or activities) may contact the CFIA to submit a complaint. This year, the CFIA's COR team received 20 complaints:

• 17 were against operators holding certification under the COR scope
• 2 were against a CFIA-accredited certification body
• 1 was against a former organic product certificate holder

We have successfully resolved 18 complaints and work is ongoing on the remaining 2.

As reported in the Food Fraud Annual Report 2021 to 2022, we continue to update the Automated Import Reference System (AIRS) to capture more information about how organic products are entering Canada. This will also allow for more efficient validation of organic certificates at the time of import. We will notify importers when import requirements are incorporated into AIRS. After that, importers of organic food commodities will be required to submit a digital copy of the organic product certificate when declaring organic products online, using the Integrated Import Declaration system. For updates on this work, refer to COR import requirements.

We conducted 46 basic label verifications of organic claims made on organic fresh or frozen fruit and vegetables. Results indicated a 98% (45/46) compliance rate. These basic label verifications were done on both domestic and imported products, and included foods such as blueberries, carrots, cucumbers, mushrooms, tomatoes, mango, oranges and strawberries. The one non-compliant result was for beets imported from the Netherlands.

CFIA-accredited certification bodies also conducted activities including certification and other forms of oversight under the COR. Activities included label and documentation reviews, as well as planned and unannounced inspections.

Surveillance: inspection, sampling, testing and results

We track, monitor and analyze the data and results of our food misrepresentation work from year to year. We design our food fraud surveillance to target high-risk products by using previous findings to increase the likelihood of detecting food misrepresentation. It is not possible to say whether food fraud in Canada is on the rise or decline by simply comparing results with previous years. Program design is continually improving and this surveillance is not intended to measure overall compliance rates across the Canadian marketplace, making year-to-year comparisons unreliable. For example, the current food fraud report found that 94% of meat tested did not indicate species substitution versus 98% the year before. These 2 data sets are not enough to conclude that misrepresentation of meat species is on the rise in Canada, as other parameters changed, such as enhanced targeting of samples.

Based on this year and previous years' results, as well as other sources of intelligence, we continue to refine our food fraud activities to more effectively mitigate risks. Results of targeted sampling are not representative of overall compliance in the Canadian marketplace.

For the purpose of reporting unsatisfactory sample results, we used the declared country of origin in most situations. In other circumstances, the dealer location provided on the label (that is, the location of the company responsible for the product in Canada) was used when:

• the county of origin is not a requirement and is not declared on the label
• documentation to support the country of origin was not available during inspection
• we determined that the cause of the non-compliance occurred at a point in the supply chain other than the country of origin

Regardless of the sampling location, practices leading to non-compliance may have occurred at various points of the supply chain (for example, in the originating country, during processing, packaging/repackaging in Canada). So an unsatisfactory result may not always mean the issue originated in the exporting country or where product was sampled.

Results are rounded to the nearest whole number.

Sampling and testing

During the 2023 to 2024 year, we conducted 2 types of sampling to detect food misrepresentation in Canada:

• marketplace monitoring
• targeted inspectorate sampling

Marketplace monitoring

Marketplace monitoring (also sometimes referred to as targeted surveys) involves sampling by an independent third party under contract with the CFIA. The third party collects samples of prepackaged products sold to consumers at retailers in various cities across Canada. Samples are then tested by the CFIA and the results are used to gauge compliance in the Canadian marketplace, as well as to inform future activities.

We used environmental scanning to identify areas of vulnerability to fraud and misrepresentation, and then did marketplace monitoring to detect food misrepresentation in the following commodities:

• coconut water adulterated with added water, foreign sugars and/or casein
• fresh meat containing (undeclared) sulfites to alter appearance
• single and mixed ground spices adulterated by the addition of colours or dyes
• sunflower oil substituted or diluted with other oils
• tea adulterated by the addition of colours or dyes

Targeted inspectorate sampling and label verifications

In this report, targeted inspectorate sampling means sampling by CFIA inspectors at the regulated party that is responsible for the product in Canada. This includes domestic processors, importers or in the case of foods prepared, packaged and labelled at retail, retailers. Unlike marketplace monitoring, this sampling targets areas of higher risk, based on factors such as history of non-compliance, unusual trading patterns and gaps in preventive controls. Results are not representative of overall compliance rates within the Canadian marketplace.

As part of our targeted inspectorate sampling, we also conducted targeted label verifications. For the purposes of this report, label verifications include basic label verifications and net quantity verifications.

• A basic label verification is an assessment of the food label to determine compliance with regulatory requirements including:
  • common name
  • list of ingredients
  • claims
  • traceability information
  • country of origin
  • any other mandatory or voluntary label information
• Net quantity verification is an assessment of the accuracy of the net quantity declared on the food label

We conducted this surveillance for the following types of food misrepresentation:

• fish species substitution
• honey adulterated with added sugars
• meat species substitution
• olive oil adulteration
• adulteration of other expensive oils
• grated hard cheese adulterated with anticaking agents above permitted levels
• fruit juices substituted or diluted with other or lower value juices, water or the addition of foreign sugars or acids
• mislabelled or short weight food (when the product weighs less than declared)

Surveillance that we did in previous years is summarized in these reports:

• Report: Enhanced honey authenticity surveillance (2018 to 2019)
• Report: Honey authenticity surveillance results (2019 to 2020)
• Report: Enhanced fish species substitution surveillance (2019 to 2020)
• Report: Food Fraud Annual Report 2020 to 2021
• Report: Food Fraud Annual Report 2021 to 2022
• Report: Food Fraud Annual Report 2022 to 2023

Summary of infographic: description of results

A total of 712 targeted samples assessed for authenticity amongst 7 commodities:

• Fish: 92% satisfactory
• Honey: 88% satisfactory
• Meat: 94% satisfactory
• Olive oil: 76% satisfactory
• Other expensive oils: 76% satisfactory
• Grated hard cheese: 55% satisfactory
• Fruit juices: 95% satisfactory

CFIA took appropriate action when it found non-compliance.

By conducting this surveillance work, we prevented misrepresented food from being sold in Canada. For example, lower value food labelled as a higher value product or with its cost inflated due to a lower amount of food in the package than declared in the net quantity. Activities outlined above directly protected consumers from unfair practices.

Samples do not represent the totality of our food testing activities. Each year, in addition to sampling and testing for food fraud, we conduct tens of thousands of tests under various surveillance programs to detect allergens, chemical hazards, and microbiological hazards. Reports detailing the results of food safety surveillance activities in Canada are also published.

Targeted inspectorate sampling

Basic label verification

During the 2023 to 2024 year, we conducted basic label verifications to detect misrepresentation by verifying compliance with legislative requirements, including:

• mandatory labelling
• composition
• claims
• country of origin declared on the label

Inspectors targeted businesses where the likelihood of finding non-compliance is higher based on risk factors such as a history of non-compliance, gaps in preventive controls or unusual trading patterns. Basic label verifications were performed at different types of food businesses, including importers, domestic processors and retailers.

Net quantity verification

CFIA inspectors also conducted net quantity verifications to detect misrepresentation at different types of food businesses in Canada, including importers, domestic processors and retailers. Inspectors targeted businesses where the likelihood of finding non-compliance was higher based on risk factors such as a history of non-compliance, gaps in preventive controls or unusual trading patterns.

Deter

For the purpose of this report, deterring means responding to a detected non-compliance through enforcement action. It also means deterring future non-compliance, by actions such as publishing the results of enforcement activities.

Enforcement

Regulated parties are reminded of their obligations to comply with regulatory requirements. In cases of non-compliance, enforcement actions are guided by the Standard Regulatory Response Process and are considered on a case-by-case basis. We take into consideration the harm caused by the non-compliance, the compliance history of the regulated party and whether there was an intent to violate federal requirements or negligence.

We publish the outcome of a number of compliance and enforcement activities, including those related to food misrepresentation. We do this as part of our commitment to openness and transparency, as well as to deter non-compliance.

We also publish reports of Administrative Monetary Penalties (AMPs). In 2023 to 2024, we issued 44 AMPs valued at $196,800 for violations under the Safe Food for Canadians Act or its regulations. This included some related to food misrepresentation. It's important to note that certain enforcement actions (such as AMPs and prosecutions) often span several years before an ultimate resolution.

Enforcement actions

In the 2023 to 2024 fiscal year, we prevented a significant amount of misrepresented food from being sold in Canada. These foods were either removed from Canada, voluntarily destroyed or relabelled before sale.

• 8,050 kg of misrepresented fish
• 10,027 kg of adulterated honey
• 37,300 L of adulterated olive oil
• 1,059 L of adulterated other expensive oil
• 141 kg of adulterated grated hard cheese
• 384 L of adulterated fruit juice

We also took the following actions:

• we issued 23 letters of non-compliance
• we issued inspection reports, including requests for corrective action and following up on non-compliant sample results to determine where the misrepresentation occurred in the supply chain
  • we continue to follow up on cases of non-compliance where necessary
• one fish product was voluntarily recalled for an undeclared allergen (egg)
• one situation is being assessed to determine whether more stringent enforcement actions will be considered, such as laying charges for offences under the legislation.

Prosecutions: charges and convictions

In July 2023, we laid charges against 2 companies for offences under the Safe Food for Canadians Act and the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations, including charges related to food misrepresentation:

• Notification of charges laid against MPY Trading Ltd., Ocean Run Seafood Canada Ltd., and Mr. Man-On Yeung

Next steps

Results of the sampling and testing outlined in this report will inform future work to prevent, detect and deter food fraud. Work will include:

• improved risk-based program design
• surveillance activities
• compliance promotion
• enhanced enforcement

We take food fraud seriously. and encourages anyone who suspects food fraud, or has concerns that a product may be labelled in a misleading manner, to report these to the CFIA through our food compliant or concern web page.

Misrepresentation can occur in various forms across a wide range of foods. Combatting food fraud in Canada is a shared role of government, industry and consumers. The 2024 to 2025 CFIA Departmental Plan outlines our plan for fighting food fraud in the year following this report. We will also continue to monitor emerging information and improve our oversight.