Food Adulteration: Understanding the Dynamic of Supply and Criminal Action

• In Event: Organized Crime in Food and Drug Markets

Abstract

Food adulteration is a frequently occurring crime but the reasons for such activity has not been fully researched. This paper draws on research conducted in the summer of 2013 shortly after the horsemeat food adulteration scandal in the UK. The research consists of a number of interviews with those responsible for the regulation of the meat industry, those involved in promoting the interests of meat producers and other key actors. The paper drawing on the work of writers such as Morselli situates the adulteration of food within a number of different scenarios from the explicitly criminal action to one that is more implicit and focused on solving problems within the overall supply chains that relies on the actions of a number of actors to act together.

Author

• Jon Spencer, University of Manchester