Food recalls in the U.S. have increased fourfold in the past five years, according to the “Brand Protection and Product Traceability 2016 Report” produced by PMMI, The Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies. Another 7% of products in grocery stores contain fake ingredients. In addition to the health problems that tainted food can cause consumers, and the damage to the brands’ and retailers’ reputations, a food recall can cost a food company $10 million or more in direct costs, business interruption and lost sales.
In 2016, Interpol tallied a total of 11,000 tons of counterfeit and toxic food seized by police agencies worldwide. At the top of the list were Italian olives painted with copper sulfate solution, Sudanese sugar cut with fertilizer and hundreds of thousands of gallons of fake alcoholic drinks.