A $71 million fraud case in South Dakota is the latest blow to the organic supply chain, reports the Star Tribune.
Federal prosecutors in February accused Kent Duane Anderson, a Rapid City, SD, businessman, with passing off conventional grain and seed as organic for more than five years.
The case is the second large-scale organic fraud case in the Midwest to attract federal prosecution in less than a year, and comes amid ongoing concern over fraudulent organic imports.
The South Dakota case is frustrating but unfortunately not a surprise, Erin Heitkamp, a vice president at Pipeline Foods, a Minneapolis-based organic supply-chain company, told the Star Tribune. Her firm has reported concerns, often about middlemen such as Anderson buying and selling grain from a desk, to certifiers and government regulators.
Read the full report here.
