Food fraud is the act of producing or selling food that is not its genuine nature. Anyone can commit this fraud if he has sufficient resources. Food fraud is a major health concern and affects the general public. Some food manufacturers are taking advantage of the situation by making fake products that appear to be real. A number of factors contribute to food fraud’s existence. The following paragraphs will explain how food fraud tricks the consumer.
In 2015, a burger factory in China used synthetic ingredients to create fake burgers for sale to restaurants. Some consumers mistook the fake burgers for the real thing and ended up eating unhealthy food. Fake hamburgers are cheaper than the real thing and can be sold at lower prices to unsuspecting restaurants and grocery stores. Failing businesses resort to creating fake foods because they cannot stand losing profits due to poor quality foods. In addition, a sushi restaurant in China used real tuna in sushi rolls for customers who did not know the difference. The restaurant expected customers to eat their product, but some people got sick after consuming fake tuna rolls instead of real one.
Some restaurants everywhere use food from China and other countries even though those countries have severe food safety issues. Many consumers are unaware that some foods they purchase at restaurants are not what they seem to be. A lot of people eat at Chinese restaurants frequently without knowing that some of the food they consume was fraudulently produced in China. The Chinese government knows about these issues and does nothing about it since it benefits Chinese manufacturers if these problems continue. Failing businesses resort to creating fake foods since no one will hire them when they create something that is obviously not what they sell at their restaurant booths
Food fraud can take place anywhere there is insufficient scrutiny on ingredients used by manufacturers. Consumers have no way of knowing what they are eating when they frequent Chinese or other foreign restaurants unless they know what foods are safe and what is not safe for consumption. Further investigation into this topic might reveal how major corporations are defrauding consumers every day with fake foods!