Food Fraud Analysis for Mineral Water Producers
Hi,
We are a producer of mineral water. As part of the Food Fraud analysis, I considered potential risks related to packaging. Since the wells are owned by us and the water extraction and bottling processes are fully controlled, the risk of adulteration of the water itself has been eliminated. Are there any other aspects I should consider in the analysis apart from packaging?
I will be grateful for your answers :)
Are you making your own glass bottles or blowing your own plastic bottles. Outsourcing was found to be an issue with a spring water company that we had... and transportation to the bottling facility and to market.
Hi,
We are a producer of mineral water. As part of the Food Fraud analysis, I considered potential risks related to packaging. Since the wells are owned by us and the water extraction and bottling processes are fully controlled, the risk of adulteration of the water itself has been eliminated. Are there any other aspects I should consider in the analysis apart from packaging?
I will be grateful for your answers :)
My company produces packaging materials and commits no frauds in 2 aspects:
- The materials of packaging themselves, like we claim high quality plastic but buy it from poorly recycled sources.
- The use of packaging materials, for example we produce an excessive number of bottles and sell to the customer and their rivals or knock-off copycats so the latters can make counterfeits.
Hi Nathalie2019,
You've pretty much covered it. Yes, adulteration is not a risk, but don't forget to clearly explain that in your documents.
In packaging there is a risk of purchasing fraud-affected resins. For example, the resin supplier could say the resin contains X% recycled components, but this could be untrue. I've also seen fraudulent lab reports for resin re. compliance to EC1935/2004.
One final thing to check is the scope for food fraud in the standard you will be audited against. Some standards specify that you need to consider insider activities for food fraud, such as employees switching out valuable ingredients for cheaper ones, or diverting products intended for destruction. If that's included in your standard be sure to explain how those types of food fraud are prevented as well.