The ‘new’ phenomenon of criminal fraud in the food supply chain

This free-to-view whitepaper looks at the rapid rise of food fraud and the collective responses to the global threat…

What’s new about criminal fraud in the food supply chain? In itself, nothing. Criminal fraud has been around for thousands of years in the form of adulteration, substitution, tampering or misrepresentation, wherever the opportunity and incentive for profit has arisen. The current high profile of fraud in the global food supply chain is mainly due to the 2013 horsemeat scandal in Europe as well as a UK government-commissioned review by Professor Chris Elliott into the Integrity and Assurance of Food Supply Networks. However, there have been several other well publicised incidents that have hit the international headlines and in recent years, a number of factors have come together to make food fraud a significant global threat for the food industry. Although the exact scale and penetration are unknown, regulators, law enforcement agencies and industry are recognising that its potential for public health and economic damage is far greater than that of food safety, which has been the main focus in recent decades.