Meat food fraud risk in Chinese markets 2012–2021

TLDR

Food fraud, particularly meat adulteration, is a global concern with numerous incidents reported in China and abroad over the past decade. The authors compiled a 2012‑2021 meat fraud risk database from 1,987 official and media records and performed a summary analysis of fraud types, regional distribution, adulterants, food categories, and risk linkages. The database enables assessment of meat safety, quantification of fraud burden, and supports faster detection, screening, and regulatory improvements in the meat supply chain.

Abstract

Food fraud is a major concern worldwide, and the majority of cases include meat adulteration or fraud. Many incidences of food fraud have been identified for meat products both in China and abroad over the last decade. We created a meat food fraud risk database compiled from 1987 pieces of information recorded by official circular information and media reports in China from 2012 to 2021. The data covered livestock, poultry, by-products, and various processed meat products. We conducted a summary analysis of meat food fraud incidents by researching fraud types, regional distribution, adulterants and categories involved, categories and sub-categories of foods, risk links and locations, etc. The findings can be used not only to analyze meat food safety situations and study the burden of food fraud but also help to promote the efficiency of detection and rapid screening, along with improving prevention and regulation of adulteration in the meat supply chain markets.