Food Fraud Databases 

EU Wine DB

Wine is a premier agricultural product of the EU and exported worldwide. It is crucial to keep up reputation of EU wine and to minimise malpractices, mainly sugaring and watering, that may undermine the position of EU wine on the internal and international markets.

The activities of the JRC in support of the EU wine legislation started with the establishment of the EU wine databank in 1991, followed by the creation of the European Office for Wine, Alcohol and Spirit Drinks (BEVABS) in 1993. It has played a fundamental role in helping the EU Member States to develop the scientific and technical competences needed to carry out isotopic analysis of wine.

The wine reform in 2008 has confirmed the importance of EU quality wines linked to their geographical origin and varietal identification. Risk of fraud related to origin/variety exists; consequently, the remit of BEVABS was extended to cover those areas. In 2013, BEVABS became the European Reference Centre for Control in the Wine Sector to take into account the new scope.

The European Wine Databank (EU Wine DB) contains data on the isotopic composition of authentic wines collected from all wine producing regions across the EU over many years. It is an important tool to detect the undeclared addition of sugar before fermentation to increase alcoholic strength and addition of water. The data can also be used to assess the correctness of geographical indications.

For more details about the access to the data in Wine Databank, please look in EU Regulation Number 2018/274, Art. 28, section “Communication of information contained in the analytical databank. The database is available to EU National authorities only.

The Privacy Statement of Wine Databank and details about the Data Protection Record of Wine Databank can be found in DPR-EC-02706 record in Register of the Data Protection Officer (DPO) of the European Commission.

Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) 

The Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) portal features an interactive searchable online database with information about food safety incidents. It gives public access to summary information about the most recently transmitted RASFF notifications as well as the ability to search for information on any notification issued in the past.Access the portal here.

DG SANTE also publishes  monthly reports on on agri-food fraud monthly suspicions .

FADB-China

FADB-China (a molecular level food adulteration database) is a food adulteration Database based on molecular fingerprints and structural similarity prediction expansion. It was created based on a collection of 961 cases of food adulteration between 1998 and 2019 from the literature reports and announcements released by the Chinese government. Critical molecules were manually annotated in food adulteration substances as determined by food chemists, to build the first food adulteration database in China. This database seems to be also the first molecular-level food adulteration database worldwide. Additionally, they propose an in silico method for predicting potentially illegal food additives on the basis of molecular fingerprints and similarity algorithms. Using this algorithm, they claim that predict 1,919 chemicals that may be illegally added to food; these predictions can effectively assist in the discovery and prevention of emerging food adulteration. More information can be found here.

Subscription-based databases

Foodfraudadvisors

The website Food Fraud Advisors has a page comparing different food fraud databases.

FAIR

The Food Adulteration Incidents Registry (FAIR) is a compilation of historical and current events involving economically motivated and intentional adulteration of foods on a global scale. 

SGF's DB

SGF International is an independent, non-profit industrial self‐control body, doing audits, analytical verification and enforcement of corrective measures along the supply chain to ensure the authenticity of fruit juices. SGF curates a database of authentic juice samples, which are taken by trained SGF auditors during audits in all major juice producing countries (production line, stock, retained samples). Those samples are profiled by NMR and checked against the European Fruit Juice Association (AIJN) Code of Practice. Providing authentic samples and sharing of compositional data of fruit juices could be envisaged to support official control laboratories to verify authenticity of fruit juices. 

FoodchainID

The foodchainIF (previously Decernis) Food Fraud Database is a continuously updated collection of thousands of ingredients and related records gathered from scientific literature, media publications, regulatory reports, judicial records, and trade associations from around the world. More information can be found here.

iComplai

iComplai is early warning platform for food risks. The platform aggregates documented fraud cases from regulatory authorities, scientific literature, and media sources to build a food fraud dictionary mapping ingredients and their respective adulterants. In parallel, it analyses risk indicators—harvest losses, economic instability, trade restrictions, tariff changes—, trying to identify commodities with elevated fraud vulnerability. An AI assistant allows users to query mitigation approaches, investigate root causes, and access current web data beyond the platform's database. More information can be found here. 

Food authenticity network

The Food authenticity nework is an initiative of LGC (UK). Its website contains a collection of food authenticity databases, some free, some subscription based.