ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces the food fraud concept. It provides an overview of the problem. The chapter explores the crime prevention concepts that apply to food fraud. It explores the technologies that are being used to authenticate food items, and discusses a variety of other technologies that are employed to make food items, and the food supply chain, more secure. Technology used for food fraud prevention involves two primary areas: product authentication and food supply chain traceability. Technology is used throughout the food industry to authenticate food items, and to track food as it moves along the supply chain. Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy is a rapid, non-destructive analysis technique that works by forcing infrared radiation through the sample under study. Raman spectroscopy is a rapid non-destructive analytical technique that can be used to evaluate food and food products. Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) testing techniques compare fragments of DNA between two or more samples to determine commonality.
