OVERVIEW OF MILK AND DAIRY PRODUCTS FOOD FRAUD ON EUROPEAN UNION MARKET

Alina Narcisa Postolache, Cecilia Pop, Andra-Sabina Neculai-Văleanu, Ioana-Cristina Crivei, Șt. Creangă

Abstract
    European Union is the world's leading cheese exporter and one of the world's top three suppliers for dairy exports (cheese, skimmed milk powder and packed milk). In milk and milk products industries, the adulteration has been reported almost all the time as a result of various risks associated with food safety hazards. Because of this, vulnerability reduction of dairy foods to adulteration is a high priority to everyone, from processors to consumers. In this context, our study analysed notifications made in E.U. dairy market through the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed for the past two decades (between January 2000 and September 2019) in order to identify patterns and correlations between types of dairy products and the incidence of various hazards by dairy product category, notification type, origin of dairy products, action taken and distribution status. For the period taken into study, we identified 979 notifications, representing 1.77% from the total E.U. food notifications. The highest number of notifications was registered in 2018 (n=76, representing 2.10%) and the lowest in 2001 (n=15, representing 2.13 %). The findings of this study can be used to prioritize and target the research areas for identification of adulterants and food fraud practices in dairy products, to boost the awareness of the final customer and to promote and enhance the legislation on food safety, with emphasis on the European diary sector.