The EFF-CoP or European Food Fraud Community of Practice project was born with the aim of revolutionising the fight against food fraud and improving transparency in food supply chains.It will launch on 1 January 2025 and run until 31 December 2027 , supported by almost €2 million in funding under Horizon Europe.
EFF-CoP is described as a “sustainable research and innovation ecosystem of researchers and end-users on food fraud based on sound sociological principles”.
The goal is to bring together more than 5,000 stakeholders to learn from each other and work together to fight food fraud, including scientists, regulators, laboratories, members of large and small industry, the organic sector, and other groups and individuals.
One of the elements of the project is in fact to insert SMEs into a knowledge sharing network where they can learn from each other's experiences and skills, benefiting from collaboration and innovation across borders.
The project will be led by Professor Saskia van Ruth, an expert in food supply chain integrity at the School of Agriculture and Food Science, University College Dublin in Ireland.
“Food fraud impacts dinner tables around the world and undermines trust in our food,” commented Professor van Ruth. “The EFF-CoP will revolutionise our approach, promote fair competition and strengthen consumer trust across Europe.”
A virtual venue – the EFF-Hub – will be set up to assist in the collaborative effort and will be used to disseminate educational resources, best practice recommendations, case study materials, and host and promote virtual and live events, including food fraud festivals, gamification-based training courses , a food fraud incident preparedness workshop , and a podcast series.
The European Commission estimates that food fraud costs the global food industry around €30 billion per year.
Fraud is defined as the deliberate and intentional act of substituting, altering, or misrepresenting a food product for profit.