The horse meat scandal in Europe and the Melamine scandal in China have raised global concern about food fraud.
The scandals compelled food companies and the food industry as a whole to take action and to protect consumers against the threat of food fraud. Stakeholders expect food companies to act proactively to mitigate food fraud risks.
Together with Wageningen Research University, VU-criminologist Wim Huisman has developed a tool to asses food fraud vulnerability of food supply chains and companies within those chains. This tool has been applied to several food supply chains, including milk, spices, extra olive oil and organic foods, as well as to the food service industry, including casual dining restaurants, fine dining restaurants and mass caterers. Food fraud vulnerability and underlying factors differ considerably between supply chains, but especially the food service operators rated high vulnerability for 40% of the fraud indicators. This is considerably more than food manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers did. Casual dining restaurants appeared most vulnerable, followed by fine dining restaurants. While diners have less opportunity to check the authenticity of what is served compared to retail-customers, it appears that the food service industry has less adequate food fraud controls in place.
