Food fraud: replacing saffron with gardenia extract
At the beginning of April 2022, the Spanish Guardia Civil arrested 11 people and incriminated 3 companies for “crimes against Public Health (Agri-Food Fraud), Fraud, Against the Market and Consumers and membership of a Criminal Group” after uncovering a major saffron fraud scheme in which gardenia was passed off as saffron.
Gardenia extract and saffron are very similar in color and molecular composition, but there is one specific molecule, called geniposide, that enables gardenia to be differentiated from saffron. The fraudsters had managed to almost remove this molecule from their product, making it extremely difficult, almost impossible, for the buyer to detect the fraud.
While gardenia extract and saffron are very similar, their production methods are not. Gardenia can be grown, harvested and processed industrially. On the other hand, saffron, which must be hand-picked from the crocus flower, requires long and delicate harvesting and processing methods. As a result, production costs are very low for gardenia extract compared to saffron. The profits made by the fraudsters were colossal. It is estimated that one of the companies under investigation could have made a €3 million profit, with a profit margin of around 800%.
In addition to the threat to fair competition and market stability, this type of fraud could also be harmful to consumers’ health. The gardenia extract was bought from a Chinese firm specialising in the production of dyes. As gardenia extract is not considered to be a food product in the European Union, the fraudsters imported it without meeting any European food safety standards, which raises serious questions over traceability and quality.
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