The intentional deception of a consumer, retailer, or regulator about the quality, safety, origin, or composition of a food product for economic gain, encompassing documented practices such as diluting or substituting an ingredient with a cheaper alternative, mislabeling a food's country of origin or species, or selling an expired or counterfeit product under a legitimate brand. Documented global food-fraud incidents include the 2013 European horsemeat scandal, in which products labeled as containing beef were found to contain undeclared horsemeat, and the 2008 melamine contamination of infant formula in China, added to falsely inflate a measured protein content, both of which prompted expanded food-fraud detection and supply-chain testing requirements in a number of countries.
Facts
Notable Example2013 European horsemeat scandal: products advertised as containing beef were found to contain undeclared or improperly declared horse meat, reported from 15 January 2013. 1 Classification
Offense Grade Connections
Has Offense Grade
Entity-backed identity for the offense-grade enum value this offense already carries, resolved to a crime concept by an explicit value-to-entity map (phase 3 bucket conversion, docs\design_entity_backed_browse_buckets_20260928.md). The offense-grade fact itself stays on the offense unchanged.
Sources
1. 2013 horsemeat scandal (Wikipedia)
Opening paragraphQuote, Opening paragraph
The 2013 horsemeat scandal was a food fraud crisis that began on 15 January 2013 when it was reported that a wide range of food products advertised in the European Union as containing beef were found to contain undeclared or improperly declared horse meat.
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