Food fraud countermeasures and consumers: A future agenda

Food fraud is an old but also recurring problem. It has re-emerged as a major risk to consumers with both food safety and food quality concerns. The approach to address food fraud differs from traditional food safety threats, as fraud is not readily predicted by using traditional food safety risk assessments and intervention strategies. The key to prevent food fraud is the development of countermeasures including assessment, data and predictive analytics, deterrence, detection, and where possible prevent food fraud from occurring in the first place. The countermeasures will ultimately influence an individual’s (fraudster) motivation to conduct food fraud. In addition to food safety/food crime authorities, researchers, and the food industry, the consumers will play a significant role in mitigating food fraud, as consumers become more aware and receptive of smartphone-based apps to determine food authenticity. This chapter summarizes the current trends in food fraud countermeasures and the role of consumers in mitigating food fraud in the future.