At a recent meeting, Panama took a leading role in the international arena by co-chairing the development of the Guidelines on the Prevention and Control of Food Fraud within the framework of the Codex Alimentarius. This effort was carried out in collaboration with China, the European Union and the United Kingdom, under the chairmanship of the United States.

Work on this document will be led by the Codex Contact Point of Panama’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MICI), which leads important initiatives in the food standards sector at the national, regional and international levels. This document, prepared within the Codex Committee on Food Import and Export Inspection and Certification Systems (CCFICS), establishes guidelines and procedures to prevent and control food fraud, marking a significant advance in the protection of food safety and quality at the global level, according to Joseph Gallardo, MICI food engineer.

Food adulteration and food fraud is as old as food production and processing however, it is increasingly prevalent today. With globalization and increasingly complex food production and distribution systems, adulteration can occur at different points in the food chain and may have far-reaching impacts and even adverse consequences for human health. The international community’s regulatory approaches to confronting and resolving food fraud are scattered and in constant adjustment. A collective and coordinated approach is needed to identify all stakeholders in the food supply chain, certify and qualify them, exclude those who do not meet applicable standards, and trace food in real time. This update provides definitions and background on key concepts associated with food integrity, episodes of food fraud in Chile and the world, main foods vulnerable to food fraud, common fraud practices and analytical techniques, regulations and new actions in Chile and the world to face food safety and the risk of food fraud.