If you are what you eat, you might be having an identity crisis.

A new study on food fraud was released Wednesday morning by U.S. Pharmacopeial Convention (USP), a scientific nonprofit organization that helps set standards for the "quality, safety and benefit" of foods and medicines. The group runs a searchable online database of food fraud reports at foodfraud.org and nearly 800 new records were added as part of the study - a 60% increase from last year.

Food fraud, as defined by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), is the adulteration, dilution or mislabeling of goods. USP further defines food fraud in the study as "the fraudulent addition of nonauthentic substances or removal or replacement of authentic substances without the purchaser's knowledge for economic gain to the seller."
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The discovery of horse DNA in hamburgers on sale at supermarkets in Ireland and Britain is testing the appetite of meat lovers there.

The Food Safety Authority of Ireland said Tuesday that 10 out of 27 hamburger products it analyzed in a study were found to contain horse DNA, and 23 of them tested positive for pig DNA.

The horse-tainted burgers, on sale at several different supermarket chains, came from two meat processing plants in Ireland and one in Britain, the Irish authority said.
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Despite sweeping reform of food safety laws intended to make what we eat less dangerous, the number of Americans falling ill or dying from contaminated food has increased 44% in the past two years alone, according to a recent report by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group.
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The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service announced today that 60 days from now producers will for the first time be required to hold shipments of non-intact raw beef and all ready-to-eat products containing meat and poultry until they pass the agency's testing for adulterants that are known to cause food-borne illnesses such as E. coli, salmonella and listeria.

USDA Under Secretary for Food Safety Dr. Elisabeth Hagen said in a statement, "This new policy will reduce food-borne illnesses and the number of recalls by preventing contaminated products from reaching consumers."
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Aliya's Food Limited, a Canadian exporter of Indian food products, announced Monday that it has issued a recall of 4,865 pounds of frozen butter chicken and rice products on fears of listeria contamination.

Following suit, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced a public alert because affected products were imported to the United States and sold at the Trader Joe's chain of grocery stores in Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Massachusetts, Maine, Maryland, North Carolina, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Virginia and Washington D.C.

The tainted products are: "12.5 oz boxes of "Trader Joe's Butter Chicken with Basmati Rice" with product code "2012-10-31" and lot code "30512."
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The United States Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service announced Friday that Black Earth Meat Market Inc. is recalling approximately 99 pounds of beef tongue products because they may not have had the tonsils completely removed.
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The Food and Drug Administration is collaborating with the New York State Department of Health, the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to investigate an outbreak of 16 E. coli infections believed to be tied to a blend of organic spinach and spring mix sold at the Wegmans chain of supermarket.
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The worst of Superstorm Sandy's wrath may have passed, but in towns where the power has gone out, it may leave an unpleasant reminder for days or weeks to come. No matter how diligently you've been about discarding spoiled food and cleaning up after, foul odors can linger.

The Food Safety and Inspection Service offers these tips for ridding refrigerators and freezers of rank smells from flood waters and rotten food:
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Ever heard the line, “Water, water, everywhere and not a drop to drink?" Never is that more true than during a hurricane.

Superstorm Sandy came ashore Monday night, flooding parts of the East Coast. After a natural disaster, your water may not be safe for use, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This includes any water used for drinking, cooking, food preparation and/or personal hygiene.

Residents in Sandy’s path should be on the lookout for boil water advisories from their local and state departments of health, as well as from utility companies. These signify that your water may be contaminated.

Still, even if no notice has been issued, consumers should never assume that water in a flood-affected area is safe to drink, the Rhode Island Department of Health says.

Read the full story on CNN Health: Post-Sandy water safety tips

Safety and sufficient rations should be your primary concern in a hurricane, flood or tornado but that doesn't mean you can't also eat well. Sink your teeth into the top food storage and preparedness links from around the globe.

• "Prepare. Plan. Stay Informed." The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) encourages people in the path of Sandy to build an emergency food supply kit.

• The USDA says to plan ahead to minimize the risk of foodborne illness.

• Fooducate lists the top 10 foods that keep well in a natural disaster - and are healthy too.

• When the power goes out, know when to save and when to throw out the food in your refrigerator with this handy chart by FoodSafety.gov.

• Should the water supply become compromised, ensure the water you're drinking is safe with these water treatment methods suggested by the CDC.