Fighting Food Fraud

The alarm bells have been sounding for a long time, but only in the past few years have consumers, regulators, and companies started to wrestle seriously with the problem of food fraud. Chalk it up to the melamine-laced baby formula that killed at least six Chinese infants in 2008 and sickened nearly 30,000 others. Or maybe it was last year’s hamburger scandal, when regulators discovered that horsemeat had slipped into hamburger patties sold all over Europe, one of the world’s most highly regulated markets. Just last month, fast-food purveyors McDonald’s and KFC apologized for using tainted meat in the meals they served Chinese customers. The acknowledgment came after a Chinese television report revealed that workers at a supplier for both franchisers had been mixing out-of-date meat with fresh meat and putting meat that had fallen on the floor back on the processing line. High-profile cases may be sprouting up, but ...