National Opson operations target rice and blueberries

More details have emerged about national operations concentrating on rice and blueberries as part of Operation Opson.

Operation Opson XIII, led by Europol, seized around 22,000 tons of food and 850,000 liters of beverages. In total, goods valued at more than €91 million ($98.3 million) were removed from the market.

The European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) coordinated an action that helped EU member states’ and Norwegian customs authorities seize around 40,000 liters of illicit alcoholic beverages.

The operation, which ran from December 2023 to May 2024, focused on identifying and removing counterfeit and substandard food and drinks from the supply chain while targeting the criminal networks behind these illicit products. 

The OLAF-led operation revealed sophisticated methods for infiltrating the EU market with inferior-quality products—mostly beer, homemade alcohol, and wine. Fraudsters used deceptive packaging, fake documents, and false labels to sell these products to consumers. 

It involved customs authorities from Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, and Slovakia. 

Rice quality

In Sweden, Livsmedelsverket (the Swedish Food Agency) focused on the mislabeling of rice.

In the spring of 2024, several Swedish agencies, together with European authorities, checked wholesalers who handle and sell rice. More than 600 tons of rice were checked in the risk-based targeted action, and the majority was labeled as better quality than it actually was.

Most of the rice was imported from outside the EU and sold on the Swedish market. Large retail chains sold some lots. Deficiencies were mainly found in rice from India and Pakistan.

The most common violation was misleading labeling. Labeling often stated that the rice was Basmati rice of the premium quality “1121,” but the packages contained rice of a lower quality or completely different types. By claiming that the rice is of a better quality, it can increase profits and obtain a competitive advantage.

Other issues included pest infestation, expired rice, tampered date marking, and a lack of traceability, meaning the company could not show where it bought rice from. Sales at five companies were stopped, and 4.2 tons of rice was destroyed because its safety could not be guaranteed.

Blueberry results

In Germany, attention was focused on products with the term “wild blueberries” in the name or list of ingredients. Substitution of wild blueberries with other blueberry species was investigated as potential adulteration.

From December 2023 to May 2024, 70 samples labeled “wild blueberries” were examined in eight federal states. The Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety (BVL) said that 50 percent of samples did not contain wild blueberries but other types of fruit. Authorities focused primarily on canned fruit. However, frozen and dried products were also sampled.

Three-quarters of the canned fruits analyzed were falsely declared as wild blueberries. A sample of dried wild blueberries from online retailers was also judged to be misleading.

Officials in Berlin suggested the blueberry focus. Of the 28 canned blueberries examined in the Berlin-Brandenburg State Laboratory since 2021, 24 were judged to be misleading due to substituting wild blueberries with other species. Wild blueberries are usually traded at higher prices than other blueberry species.

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Source: https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2024/10/national-opson-operations-target-rice-and-blueberries/