Inferior and counterfeit food and beverages are the focus of Europol’s and Interpol’s operation OPSON year after year. The European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) is also involved and has been particularly successful this year: Almost 1.8 million liters of wine, beer, and other alcoholic beverages were seized during the campaign, which lasted from December 2020 to May 2021. Furthermore, OLAF, in cooperation with the authorities in Guatemala, Honduras, the Netherlands, and Spain, was able to break down a criminal network that brought fake rum into the European Union. The approximately 340,000 bottles secured correspond to a value of over 4.5 million euros.

However, the success of the campaign is not only of particular importance from an economic point of view. The high percentage of counterfeit products can also pose a significant risk to the health of unsuspecting consumers. For this reason, KURZ has developed its own security concept for the alcohol industry – for all manufacturers who want to offer their consumers uncompromising security.

Image: felix_w (Pixabay)