ABSTRACT
Food fraud is a serious crime that has occurred throughout history. However, governments and businesses have only recently begun to actively and proactively address this growing problem. Indeed, not only can food fraud incidents have devastating economic impacts, but they also pose considerable risks to public health, safety, and food security. 1 Globally, businesses and governments have shown an increased interest in preventing food fraud by coming together with other interested stakeholders to learn about and devise ways to combat the problem. For example, varieties of certifications, standards, and best practices have been, and are continuously being, developed. There is support for academic research, and incident databases have been made and are being updated. Academic programs such as Michigan State University’s Food Fraud Initiative have been established and expanded upon to provide education and research support for issues related to food fraud. Additionally, current technologies are increasingly being employed by businesses and governments around the world in order to improve our ability to detect and deter food fraud incidents. Although an overview of the food fraud problem will be provided, this chapter is about food fraud detection technologies. This chapter will (1) introduce the food fraud concept, (2) provide an overview of the problem, and (3) conclude with a discussion and review of the current technologies that are being used to detect and deter food fraud.
