Food Fraud: Focus on Biscuits

Atlante’s Food Fraud Observatory focuses on the risks associated with products and categories. The goal? To raise awareness and help businesses operate with greater responsibility.

Risk Analysis

Biscuits and baked goods are products with a strong identity, rooted in origin and tradition, consumed throughout the day — from breakfast to snacks. Made from simple ingredients — flour, leavening agents, water — they can be enriched depending on the final product. Their consumption spans a very wide range of people, from infants to the elderly, including those with gluten allergies. This broad reach makes the category one where fraud risk deserves close attention.

In many cases, fraud can lead to food safety issues through the presence of contaminants: baked goods can be a source of exposure to heavy metals — particularly cadmium, lead, mercury and arsenic — as well as pesticides, above permitted limits.

Key Risks

The most common fraud types involve false origin claims, the use of lower-value or non-characteristic raw materials, and the alteration of certain characteristics — such as colour — through the use of unauthorised additives or ingredients. A recurring case is the false indication of artisanal production: industrially produced items such as colomba and panettone are sold as handmade at a higher price. For products intended for early childhood — a vulnerable group aged 0 to 3 — the risk is even more significant. Concerning cases have also been reported internationally: in the United States, multiple alerts were issued regarding the inclusion of titanium dioxide in pastries, a colourant that should be avoided.

Mitigating Fraud in this Category

Food safety aspects can be monitored through specific product analyses. For everything related to origin and organoleptic characteristics, maintaining continuous ingredient traceability is essential.

Evergreen

Every new food trend — from wholegrain flours to gluten-free — finds a quick and coherent response in the biscuit category. The product has evolved from pure indulgence to something increasingly wellness-oriented: not just taste, but attention to ingredients, flour blends and egg sourcing. These production choices have a direct impact on pricing and, in practice, only major brands can introduce them in a structural way. The sweet goods sector must evolve — not to follow a trend, but because Italian eating habits are shifting towards more informed choices. The challenge is to not lose the pleasure along the way.