Countless products carry an origin claim. ‘Cheese from Normandy’, ‘Dutch strawberries’, or ‘Norwegian salmon’: consumers love them. It is a logical consequence of the global economy: we enjoy having a broad selection from an extensive product range. Such origin claims often create added value, making consumers willing to pay a premium. But are these claims always accurate? And are you unnecessarily overpaying during procurement? In this article, authenticity expert Hans van der Moolen explains which control measures you can implement to prevent origin fraud.
“The most notable legislative change regarding origin claims involves honey,” begins Van der Moolen. “Currently, honey labels state that the honey originates from ‘EU and non-EU countries.’ That is, of course, quite meaningless. The European Commission is preparing legislation that will soon require honey producers to specify the exact proportion coming from each origin. You will soon have to define both the country of origin and the percentage. And rightly so: if your honey is 99% sourced from China and 1% from the EU, you can currently simply state ‘from EU and non-EU countries’ on your label. That is potentially misleading.”
How will you be able to verify whether ‘European honey’ on the label actually comes from Europe? “How do you ensure it is not Chinese honey imported via Hungary that is subsequently labeled as ‘European honey’? Fortunately, this can be detected in the laboratory through pollen analysis. Honey must contain pollen; otherwise, it legally cannot be called honey,” explains Van der Moolen.
That is not the only potential issue with sourced honey. The most common type of honey fraud involves adding sugar. “If you supplement bee feed with sugar or syrup, you cannot sell the product under the name ‘honey’. It has essentially become sugar syrup. When we screen in the laboratory to determine whether suppliers have used syrup, we occasionally detect non-conformities. That is strictly prohibited. We see retailers increasingly conducting these types of origin and authenticity checks.”
Origin claims also play a significant commercial role in olive oil. Many consumers consider Italian olive oil to be the gold standard. “That is not necessarily the case,” says Van der Moolen. “If olive oil is bottled in Italy using Spanish olives, it is, of course, not truly Italian olive oil.”
Whether it is cheese from Normandy or strawberries from the Netherlands, an origin claim increases the perceived value of a product—even when it might not be relevant to the actual product quality. Van der Moolen: “In the Netherlands, we prefer buying Dutch strawberries over strawberries from Ghana, even though the quality may be identical. For certain domestic products, we are happy to pay more. Dutch strawberries are allowed to carry a slightly higher price tag. In practice, however, products sometimes originate from a different country after all, are blended with foreign produce, or are merely packaged in the claimed country of origin. This allows cheaper commodities to be sold at premium prices. You’d rather not think about it, but it happens.”
“The ‘organic’ claim is equally interesting. I recently saw ‘organic tomatoes’ in the supermarket, but I couldn't find the origin anywhere on the packaging. Because we are so accustomed to finding origin details on food items, it stands out when it is missing. Regardless: organic food can now also be authenticated in the lab—and not just by the presence or absence of pesticides. In our French sister lab, they can prove whether a product was organically grown or cultivated conventionally, such as using synthetic fertilizers. Crops develop differently when grown organically, and that difference can be traced through laboratory analysis. It’s an exciting new testing service we are able to offer.”
Van der Moolen recently encountered an intriguing example: “The packaging on a batch of prawns stated ‘origin Spain’, even though that specific prawn species does not occur in Spanish waters. They were likely Argentine red prawns caught by Spanish vessels and imported into Spain. Can you call prawns traded out of Spain ‘Spanish prawns’? The same question applies to ‘Norwegian salmon’. If it is farmed salmon from Norway, can you simply market it as ‘Norwegian salmon’? Or is that misleading? Both wild and farmed salmon possess distinct nutritional profiles: one is richer in omega-3 fatty acids, the other higher in minerals. That introduces an entirely different dimension to origin determination. Verifying origin involves many facets,” notes Van der Moolen.
“As a retailer or food manufacturer, you might assume whatever is printed on the label is accurate. However, that may not always be true,” explains Van der Moolen. “If you suspect fraud, I would definitely recommend laboratory origin testing. You will easily recoup the analytical costs during discussions with the supplier. Naturally, you cannot test every single batch for origin. That is where supply chain management comes in. Investigate where your product originates. Visit Italy to see firsthand how your supplier produces the olive oil. Is your supplier located farther away? Then it becomes more challenging,” says Van der Moolen. “In that case, request origin documentation from your supplier. Simply asking the question elevates it to a priority item. Check whether the documentation makes sense intuitively.”
Documentation is not always flawless. “I have seen documentation for wine from the Bordeaux region featuring an area code that was nowhere near Bordeaux. In cases like that, it is immediately clear on paper that something is off. Verify whether all documentation follows a logical structure. As a buyer, you usually have deep knowledge of the products you source, enabling you to spot irregularities on paper quickly.”
Van der Moolen emphasizes that there is even more you can do to prevent fraud. “When you place difficult procurement requests and exert extreme pressure on your supplier, you can put them in an impossible situation. For example, demanding a bulk delivery of olive oil by tomorrow. Under intense pressure, a supplier might look for creative workarounds to fulfill the order. I have visited facilities in Vietnam where organic and non-organic pepper were stored side by side in the same warehouse. Will that supplier say ‘no, I cannot deliver’ if they run short on organic pepper? Or will they top it up with conventional pepper stamped as ‘organic’? Or perhaps your otherwise trustworthy supplier sources goods from an unvetted third party without rigorous checks just to meet your deadline.
In short: by making unrealistic demands, you inadvertently encourage food fraud without realizing it. Do not put your suppliers under excessive pressure, and keep requests realistic. Furthermore, an overemphasis on cost reduction can facilitate fraud. A price offer may look exceptionally attractive, but is there a catch? That is precisely when you need to be critical. Together, we can make a tangible difference in the fight against food fraud.”
Would you like more information about risks, authenticity testing, and control measures for your products? Our expert Hans van der Moolen is happy to advise and assist you. Contact us via foodsafetysolutions@ftbnl.eurofins.com or call +31 (0)888 31 03 30.