SOUTH AFRICA – Researchers from South Africa have recommended the creation of a single food safety authority, National Food Control Authority (FCA), to tackle food fraud and boost consumer health protection.

The researchers explained that if the centralized body is equipped with ample resources, it would streamline effectively enforce food safety regulations and significantly enhance investigative capabilities.

They also advice for a frequent consumer education campaigns are essential for empowering citizens to make informed choices and identify potential food safety hazards.

Furthermore, enhancing laboratory capacity is paramount for ensuring that suspicions of food fraud can be promptly reported, investigated, and addressed effectively.

The group defended their recommendation with the rise of global food malpractice such as food fraud, which has heightened public awareness of food safety concerns.

South Africa’s (SA), with its well-established food industry, is not immune to the scourge of food fraud, they said in the journal BMC Public Health.

Consumers of commercially sourced food rely on the food supply chain to provide safe and authentic food products, as they cannot personally verify the production, processing, distribution, and storage conditions of their food.

SA experienced several food fraud related crises including, listeriosis outbreak and recent high-profile food fraud cases.

The largest listeriosis outbreak ever documented occurred in South Africa between January 2017 and July 2018. The National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD) confirmed 1060 cases of listeriosis, and 216 deaths.

In addition, the absence of food safety regulations for e-commerce (online food stores) in SA poses a significant risk of fraudulent food products, ingredients, or packaging being deliberately substituted, added, or misrepresented for economic gain

“Despite mounting evidence of food fraud scandals, South Africa’s regulatory framework for food control and safety conspicuously lacks a formal definition of food fraud, deviating from the recommendations of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO),” the researchers said.

This absence of a clear and comprehensive definition poses substantial obstacles to effective monitoring, prosecution, and deterrence of food fraud activities.

Without a well-defined framework, the researchers say authorities struggle to accurately identify and categorize fraudulent practices, potentially leading to an underestimation of the true scope of food fraud and hindering efforts to curb its proliferation.

SA’s food control system is a multi-agency system, which means that it involves multiple government agencies (The Departments of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF), Health (DoH), Trade & Industry (DTI)) working together to ensure the safety of the food supply.

However, the authorities are fragmented and lack a centralized governing body, and some regulations are more than 40 years old.

Punishment for food fraud offenders is still uncertain despite the deadly consequences, as seen by the deaths of children in Gauteng in 2002, Soweto and the West Rand in 2023, and Vredefort in 2023, all linked to the consumption of unsafe and adulterated food. The reliance on laboratory evidence for legal action also poses a significant hurdle.

Researchers say inadequate authorities’ action against food fraud undermines food safety enforcement.

It may legitimize the actions of unauthorized civil groups, undermine environmental health practitioners’ authority, and create fear and uncertainty among consumers. 

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