Crafted in collaboration with three commercial food fraud incident collation tool providers – FoodChain ID Food Fraud Database, HorizonScan and Safety HUD – the global report revealed that processed food, milk and dairy products, and beverages were the most at-risk commodities in 2025.
Notably, the Food Authenticity Network’s (FAN) collation of global fraud reporting has indicated evidence of a clear upward trend from 2023 through to 2025, although further data would be needed to determine whether this is set to be a consistent and continuing trend.
The body added that the data “is concerning and should be further investigated”.
Most vulnerable foods
Processed foods were found to be the most susceptible group to fraud, accounting for 19.8% of reports in 2025, followed by milk and dairy products (13.5%) and beverages (12.8%).
These commodities were also the top three for 2024, although in that year beverages were the most at-risk group, with 17.3% of reports, followed by processed food and milk and dairy with 15.3% and 13.1% respectively.
It should be noted, that these figures are for regulatory reports only, and if all regulatory, media and peer-reviewed publication reports are incorporated, dairy (14%), meat and poultry (13%), and herbs and spices (10%) are the most susceptible groups for 2025.
Across the board, other commodities that saw notable levels of fraud on a global scale were fruits, vegetables and legumes, which made up 11.3% of reports, food supplements (10.6%), cereals and bakery products (10.2%), and fish and seafood (8.8%).
Meat and poultry, oils and fats, and oilseeds also saw relatively consequential report numbers.
How is food being defrauded?
The most common types of food fraud identified in the report revolved around labelling fraud (19%), followed closely by the use of non-food substances (18%), and dilution or substitution (14%).
“Complex, multi-ingredient products are particularly vulnerable to adulteration, mislabelling and substitution,” commented Rachel Parsons, solicitor in the regulatory and corporate defence team at law firm, Birketts LLP.
“Criminal food offences take many forms, ranging from minor regulatory breaches to serious crimes involving food adulteration or contamination. Food fraud occurs when food products are deliberately misrepresented, mislabelled, or adulterated to deceive consumers – often motivated by financial gain.
“These practices contribute to a broader rise in criminal food offences and are frequently associated with serious food safety breaches.”
What do these findings tell us?
Georgina Stewart, founder of UK food consultancy, The Nutrient Gap, fellow of the Royal Society for Public Health (FRSPH), and a member of the Institute of Food Science and Technology said the findings “really reinforce" what we’ve been seeing for a while.
“Food fraud isn’t shifting dramatically, it’s sitting in the same high-risk categories where supply chains are more complex and margins are tighter,” she contended.
While food fraud incidents represent a significantly small proportion of global food safety reports – in 2024, for example, they accounted for less than 10% of all reports – FAN attributes this low number to pervasive under-reporting and the lack of a concerted approach by many regulators.
Stewart agreed: “Products like dairy, seafood, honey and processed foods continue to come up, not necessarily because they’re more fraudulent, but because they’re more closely monitored. What stands out is how consistent this is year on year.
“If anything, it points more towards underreporting than low levels of fraud. Issues around substitution and origin are still front and centre, which shows traceability and transparency remain the key pressure points for the industry.”
However, whilst an upward trend in food fraud may suggest improved monitoring in some areas, it may also be a sign of the times. Unscrupulous behaviour often finds opportunity at times of crisis, so it’s likely new threats will emerge as the global economy continues to grapple with a cost-of-living crisis, compounded by serious supply chain issues arising from the protracted conflict in the Middle East.
