Food fraud can result in serious harm to the health

they are unknowingly buying in markets, shops and restaurants ends up in the pockets of criminal groups.”

Italy’s mafia organisations have increasingly turned from violence to commercial enterprises, including food production, that allow them to launder money while reaping big profits, and ignoring safety and welfare standards, said the Observatory on Crime in Agriculture and the Food Chain.

Crime syndicates are involved in the fish chain, across borders, from trawling to processing and distribution, via their control of markets, according to the Rome- based think- tank, which said: “They systematically violate the rules, from illegal fishing to species substitution, false certificates and corruption of officials.”

Europol began working on international food fraud in 2011, “because criminals do not limit themselves to one country and benefit from restricted legal jurisdictions”, said Chris Vansteenkiste, head of counterfeiting at the agency.

Following the 2013 horsemeat scandal in the EU, the number of countries involved in Europol grew from nine to 67.

Last month, more than £ 120m worth of potentially dangerous fake food and drink was taken out of circulation in the latest phase of Operation Opson.

Incorrectly stored meat, tampered expiry dates on chicken and dairy, and drinks with controlled medicine added, were among the products seized.

In Zimbabwe, authorities seized nearly 14,000 litres of soft drinks. The beverages contained potentially deadly levels of the active in erectile dysfunction

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ingredient medication.

“Counterfeit and substandard food and beverages can be found on the shelves in shops around the world,” said Interpol’s director of organised and emerging crime, Paul Stanfield. “Their increasing sale online is exacerbating the threat that food crime poses to the public.”

For the first time, the operation investigated organic food products – or products claiming to be organic. There is a growing trend of products being sold that do not meet any organic standards, so they can be sold at higher prices.

“In the best of cases, food fraud is the deception of consumers, whereby they pay for something they do not get, but in the worst cases, food fraud can result in serious harm to the public’s health,” said Jari Liukku, head of Europol’s European Serious and Organised Crime Centre.

Aberdeen- based Dr Smith said although this type of organised criminal activity has been around for a long time, the scale is only now coming to the surface as more sophisticated tests are being introduced and more resources are being allocated to bringing those responsible to justice.

“The trouble is, it can take years to get the offenders into court and by that time they have moved on to some new venture,” he said. “To stop food fraud entirely we would have to DNA test everything that lands on our shores so, for now, this type of criminal enterprise looks like it is here to stay.”