DUBLIN: More than 2,500 tonnes of illicit or fake food, including mozzarella, strawberries, eggs, cooking oil and dried fruit were seized in the last two months. The fake and sub-standard food and drink have been seized in 47 countries around the world as part of an Interpol – Europol operation.
Checks were carried out at shops, markets, airports, seaports and industrial estates during December 2014 and January 2015 and involved police, customs, national food regulatory bodies and partners from the private sector, according to Interpol. In Italy, 31 tonnes of seafood labeled as fresh was actually frozen before being doused with a chemical substance containing citric acid, phosphate and hydrogen peroxide to make the catch appear freshly caught. Also, Egyptian officials seized 35 tonnes of fake butter and dismantled a factory producing fake tea, while in South Sudan an unlicensed water bottling plant was shut down. Another investigation is ongoing in Norway following the seizure of counterfeit water bottles.
