Food fraud – a current issue but an old problem

The purpose of this paper is to address the topic of food fraud which has been so widely and variously reported over recent months and years. Its purposes are to set current experience into an historical context and to illustrate the tension between the science of deception and the science of detection.

This is a desk study of published literature and historical documentation, together with interviews with those professionally concerned with detection and enforcement.

The piece concludes that with all the scientific developments and analytical techniques that seem so mind‐bendingly sophisticated, there remains the basic problem of a lack of resources.

It is asserted that more is owed to the memories and the reputations of those who pioneered the effort to combat food fraud. Without a considerable increase in the resources made available for the appliance of the science currently available and that being developed, the battle will never be fully engaged, yet alone won.

This review is unique in that it seeks to take a long view of current concern, and even scandal, showing that the situation is not new and lessons should have been learned from past experience.