Within the project timeframe of 5 years, the EU-funded FOODINTEGRITY project has consolidated knowledge and applications on food authenticity methodology and fraud prevention. New tools and resources that will help European food producers and authorities to uncover counterfeit products have been developed to add value to European products. The project comprised 60 participants from 18 European countries and one each from China and Argentina. It consisted of 21 work packages. We from Organic Services were responsible for work package 16: Improving Supply Chain Integrity through Data Sharing.

Check Organic: the tool can detect fraud beyond organic

Our non-analytical supply chain integrity tool, Check Organic, specifically targets fraud in the organic sector. Here, fraud scandals have unveiled that conventional products are often being mislabelled and sold as organic, since organic products sell for higher prices than conventional ones. Within the FOODINTEGRITY project, we proved that Check Organic can serve as a blueprint for all other commodities that carry a specific quality claim and can thus be applied not only in the organic market, but in the food industry at large. For markets other than the organic one, the tool has therefore been made available as "Check Integrity".

Prospect for system out roll

We encourage companies worldwide to provide data to the platform and to thereby create a transparency level that will not only ensure the integrity of supplies, but that will increase competitiveness towards those who prefer to conceal their business practices. But should honesty and transparency remain voluntary? No! We urge for a system-wide implementation of Check Organic/ Check Integrity by authorities such as governments, the EU, business sector associations or certification bodies.

Find the official project results on the EU homepage here.