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Honey is currently at the centre of changes in European regulations, mainly related to labelling and tightening controls, with several organisations calling for harmonised and improved detection methods and tighter import controls. Since the beginning of the 2010s, the fight against food fraud has become a key legislative and enforcement priority in the EU, following serious food fraud incidents and the complexity and cross-border nature of the food chain. Since its inception, the vulnerability approach has been at the core of the EU food fraud prevention system. The vulnerability concept involves the analysis of the key factors and characteristics that expose people and groups to harm while limiting their ability to anticipate, cope with, and recover from harm, including the assessment of human and systemic responses (Wisner, 2016). In the context of food fraud, several scholars and organisations highlight vulnerability as susceptibility to a [given] risk (e.g., van Ruth et al. 2017). Vulnerability to food fraud has been studied using different approaches, mainly based on criminological and behavioural science theories (e.g., Manning and Soon, 2016; van Ruth et al., 2017). Following the Safe Supply of Affordable Food Everywhere (SSAFE) tool, several studies have advanced knowledge on food fraud opportunities, motivations, and responses to control measures, highlighting different levels of food fraud (e.g., Yan et al., 2020).
Going beyond the perspective of criminal behaviour and industry-centred approaches, this article contributes to reconceptualising food fraud vulnerability, considering the vulnerability of actors and the environment, as well as social justice considerations. Although unequal access to information on food fraud has been recognised, social justice considerations in terms of participation and unequal impacts, particularly for vulnerable actors, have been largely absent from food fraud discussions in both academic and policy arenas.
This study aims to identify gaps in the understanding of food fraud vulnerability in the context of the Spanish Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) and non-certified honey supply chain. Narrative analysis is conducted based on interviews with experts and value chain actors of the Spanish honey supply chain, as well as European institutions and organisations. Specifically, we analyse a) factors that increase vulnerability to food fraud, b) actors' perceptions of vulnerability and how they are affected by food fraud, and c) the actions and adaptations taken by different actors in the chain and suggestions for remedies. Finally, we expand and nuance the concept of food fraud vulnerability based on the findings of this study. Overall, the study contributes to the inclusion of social justice narratives in policy decisions on food fraud in order to achieve the social objectives of European food policy.
While national authorities tend to focus their controls on food safety, several illegal practices, such as dilution with different syrups, harvesting of immature honey, and mislabelling of origin, among others, threaten the sustainability of the European beekeeping sector and beyond. This study highlights factors that increase vulnerability to food fraud, such as climate change, pests and diseases, and international trade dynamics that create distorted markets. Imported adulterated honey entering the EU market at lower prices threatens the viability of traditional beekeeping. Other critical vulnerabilities include methodological limitations, gaps and inconsistencies in legislation, power inequalities, and unequal participation in decision-making. Beekeepers and their associations see geographical indication and traditional speciality schemes, and direct producer-consumer interactions as a way to contribute to food fraud prevention and risk reduction. Furthermore, results from this study highlight transparency solutions such as data and information sharing transparency as crucial to tackling the root causes of food fraud.
As observed in this study, food fraud vulnerability is constructed socially due to social, economic, political, and cultural factors that affect decision-making. Including social justice considerations in terms of participation and unequal impacts, particularly for vulnerable actors, is a key consideration in the assessment of food fraud vulnerabilities and food fraud risks.
References
Manning, L., Smith, R., & Soon, J. M. (2016). Developing an organizational typology of criminals in the meat supply chain. Food Policy, 59, 44–54.
van Ruth, S. M., Huisman, W., & Luning, P. A. (2017). Food fraud vulnerability and its key factors. Trends in Food Science & Technology, 67, 70–75.
Yan, J., Erasmus, S. W., Aguilera Toro, M., Huang, H., & van Ruth, S. M. (2020). Food fraud: Assessing fraud vulnerability in the extra virgin olive oil supply chain. Food Control, 111, 107081.
Wisner, B. (2016). Vulnerability as Concept, Model, Metric, and Tool. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Natural Hazard Science.
Keywords: authenticity, sustainability, social justice, honey supply chain, transparency, food fraud vulnerability
