Food Fraud in the Organic Industry

Description:

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Office of the Inspector General reported recently that they have failed to review required documents for products labeled as “organic”. This finding and report means a lack of controls at U.S. borders increases the likelihood that nonorganic products are entering the U.S. under “organic” labels.

But importing fraudulent organic products is the tip of the iceberg with some imports showing “organic” on the labels when contents are adulterated with GMO, pesticides or are blatantly non-organic. Indeed, the difference in pricing between organic and non-organic products continues to increase in the face of consumer demand and the need to preserve organic identity.

National Organic Program (NOP) standards were established in 2002. With almost every type of product now flying the “organic” flag from thousands of farms into hundreds of thousands of restaurants and retail establishments, the likelihood of organic food fraud has grown along with the market. The NOP prohibits the use of sewage sludge, GMO, ionizing radiation, synthetic pesticides, synthetic fertilizers, antibiotics, growth hormones, artificial preservatives, flavors, dyes and covers specific labeling rules or products labeled as organic.

The US Department of Agriculture reports punishable fines up to $11,000 and encourages reporting complaints. They list fraudulent organic certificates and all companies legally certified as organic. With organic sales jumping 23% in 2016, The Packer reports explosive industry growth that lends itself to fraudulent practices.

Why you should attend :

Overall food fraud losses are estimated at between $10 and $15 billion annually on a world-wide basis. Today thousands of U.S. companies buy, process and sell organic products.

With the continuous expansion of the organic industry, pricing variations and food fraud, companies need to protect the consumer, their industry and brand identity investment. Receivers of so-called organic food need to be able guarantee consumers that the product has not been adulterated by pesticides, cross contaminants, and other hazards, even though it was verifiably grown that way All companies need to review and develop new tools and technology designed to provide data that tracks and traces organic product through all processes in order to build a preventive supply chain.

Areas Covered in the Session :

We will cover issues such as potential pesticide cross contamination from previously carried loads,

NOP Standards

Verifying the Source Organic Food Shipments

Controls Over Transportation of Fresh Organic Foods

Cross Contaminants – Sanitation Specifications
Procedures and Controls
Control over Previous Loads
Lack of Border Controls
Temperature Controls
Inspection
Food Security
Farmers’ Markets

Who Will Benefit:

You will be able to use:

A tracking solution that allows shippers, carriers and receivers to record and review data focused on
Tracking organic shipments from the source
Checking the shipment source against the NOP approved data base
Checking to assure the container or trailer for organic shipment has been cleaned according to shipper/receiver specific requirements
Assuring the container has been properly sealed
Assuring the temperature has been maintained throughout all shipment handoffs
Verifying conditions at the receiving end
Maintaining a complete record of all transactions.
The NOP site to help you assure you are dealing with organic certified suppliers

About Speaker:

Dr. John Ryan is a certified Preventive Controls Qualified Individual (PQCI) specializing in food safety process control and food safety plan validation. He holds a Ph.D. in research and statistical methods and has extensive international manufacturing quality and operations experience in large and small manufacturing operations. He is a retired Hawaii State Department of Agriculture Quality Assurance Division administrator. He currently operates two business divisions focused on preventive control validation at http://www.RyanSystems.com and food safety during transportation operations at http://www.SanitaryColdChain.com. His latest book entitled “ Validating Preventive Food Safety and Quality Controls: An Organizational Approach to System Design and Implementation” is now available from Barnes & Noble or Amazon.

Event URL: http://bit.ly/2GJFaPW