Exploring the veracity of food labels: a comparison of two countries with disparate levels of food control

Food fraud, including adulteration or mislabeling, is a significant global problem. The rate and type of food fraud may depend on the country. In the present study, we assessed the occurrence of two types of food fraud in Nigeria, a developing African country, and Finland, an EU country famous for its high food control. First, by LC‒MS/MS and ELISA methods, we determined melamine concentrations in infant formulas for sale in both countries as well as in whole pet foods available in Finland. Second, using bar-code end-point PCR and Sanger sequencing, we explored whether the species in minced beef products in Nigeria and Finland was correctly labeled. In all Nigerian and Finnish infant formulas and in cat and dog foods in Finland, melamine concentrations fell below the maximum acceptable limit. In contrast, all 10 Nigerian meat samples analyzed proved to be mislabeled, containing chicken, pork, or both, whereas all six Finnish meat products represented beef as labeled. These findings reveal that while melamine does not appear to be a risk in infant formulas today, even in Nigeria, mislabeling meat by substituting less expensive meat materials for beef seems to be there highly common. Therefore, broader nationwide product surveillance and stricter food control measures should be implemented in that country.