Overview of food adulteration from the biotechnological perspective

Food adulteration, as a food-fraudulent activity, is a long-standing food-safety issue since the start of trade and driven by the desire of merchants and/or manufacturers for illegal economic gain. Due to the rapid globalization of food production, it is more challenging to assure food authenticity, though a wide range of analytical and/or biotechnical technologies have been successfully developed and used. The main purpose of food adulteration is not to endanger consumers’ health but food adulterations might pose food-safety risks and even result in serious health threats. So far, various countries and regions, including US, EU and China, have formulated various regulations to prevent the occurrence of ‘food scandals’. In future, effective collaborations among governmental authorities, international organisations and manufacturers are required to battle against food adulteration.