What’s Really on Your Plate? Exploring the Dark Side of Food Fraud

Fuelled by rising prices and decreasing profit margins, those with little regard for food truth can make extra dollars by duping consumers.

What is food fraud?

The rise of food fraud, where counterfeit or deceptive food products are on the market, is a concerning trend in Australia.  Fuelled by rising prices and decreasing profit margins, those with little regard for food truth can make extra dollars by duping consumers with everything from meat and seafood to dairy and even everyday herbs.

A report from AgriFutures Australia states that food fraud costs the Australian economy $3 billion every year. High-risk categories such as veal, wine, fish, and molluscs are under scrutiny, collectively carrying an estimated economic burden ranging from $700 million to $1.3 billion annually.

The globalization of the food and beverage supply chain, coupled with mounting geopolitical and environmental challenges, further exacerbates the vulnerability of raw ingredient availability, providing fraudsters with many opportunities to thrive in the shadows. Food microbiologist Associate Professor Julian Cox from UNSW School of Chemical Engineering says the practice not only tarnishes consumer trust but can pose a food safety risk, too, like when harmful chemicals were found in baby formula.

“Consumers are left in the dark when producers substitute ingredients that could potentially cause adverse health reactions,” he says.

“Whether it’s buying honey or olive oil at the supermarket or going to a high-end restaurant and ordering expensive wagyu steak, as consumers, we expect to get what we pay for. It’s hard, or even impossible, for the consumer to know what is real and what is fake.

“And typically, we don’t question the product we’re buying because we put trust in something as fundamental as the food supply chain.”

Six common food frauds

The most common food frauds in Australia take various forms, yet the ultimate objective remains consistent: to dupe consumers into paying a premium for a product that falls short of its claims. Within the food industry, the six prevalent food fraud practices include mislabelling, adulteration, substitution, counterfeiting, dilution, and concealment.

Mislabelling

Making claims about the product’s country of origin, making false claims about how the product was made, misrepresenting the product’s nutritional qualities, and misrepresenting the weight of the food.

“Currently, the vast majority of food recalls in Australia are due to issues with allergens. In these instances, while there is no intent, the problems boil down to mismanagement or mislabelling. Of course, when there’s a serious food safety risk, there’s less room for forgiveness, regardless of intent,” says A/Prof. Cox.

Adulteration

This occurs when fraudsters contaminate food by adding other substances to it, for example, adding sugar syrup to honey to lower cost.

Cases of food adulteration have been ruining the appetite of consumers for decades. In 2013, a scandal over the contamination of meat products rocked parts of Europe. Frozen beef burgers and lasagne were found to contain horse DNA in more than one-third of samples and pig DNA in 85 per cent of samples.

Unlike this case, others have been fatal – such as the 2008 Chinese milk scandal. Sanlu Group’s milk and infant formulas were adulterated with the toxic industrial chemical melamine, resulting in six infants’ deaths after they developed kidney stones. It’s estimated that over 300,000 babies in China got sick from the contaminated milk.

While the Sanlu Group was identified as the culprit, the incident damaged the reputation of China’s food exports and was a shattering blow to their domestic dairy industry.

“When scandals like these occur, it can put a spotlight not just on the implicated supplier but on the entire industry,” says A/Prof. Cox. “Repercussions such as global trade bans can occur if governments feel like the food exports from a certain country don’t meet a certain standard and the reputation of that industry is scrutinised.

“And a lot of the time, the primary producers aren’t aware that their product has been tampered with further along the food chain. Anytime there’s a way that you can pass off a product as something else, and make money doing it, there’ll be someone who’s tempted to defraud the consumer.”

Substitution

Earlier this year, it was reported that Booths, a UK supermarket chain, discovered one of its suppliers had falsely labelled imported beef as British. The prepacked slices of beef and deli products were from another country in Europe and South America, and the case is now being investigated by the UK’s National Food Crime Unit.

“You can pick almost any commodity, any food or beverage, and you can almost guarantee that products within that category have been tampered with somewhere along the supply chain – even if it’s in the labelling and claiming to be from a specific region of the world,” says A/Prof. Cox.

Counterfeiting

Counterfeit food fraud involves the deceptive practice of presenting subpar or synthetic food items as reputable or premium brands. This nefarious activity extends across a wide array of food categories, including fish, spices, honey, olive oil and chocolate. Not only does it pose risks to consumers’ well-being and finances, but it also imposes a hefty financial toll of $3 billion annually on Australians. Some companies employ forensic techniques to track the origin and validate the authenticity of food products.

Dilution

Food fraud dilution occurs when the volume or weight of food is misrepresented by adding an inert, undeclared ingredient. For example, adding beet fibres or dried marigolds to saffron or watering down milk.

Concealment

Concealing flaws or unwanted attributes through the addition of undisclosed ingredients, like using food colouring to mask imperfections on fruits or to create a false appearance of freshness. Furthermore, instances where products are falsely advertised as ‘organic’ or ‘halal’ to command higher prices, despite not meeting the claimed standards.

What can you do about it?

What can you do about the most common food frauds in Australia? While the responsibility of confirming a product’s authenticity shouldn’t rest solely on the customer, it’s crucial to inquire if you harbour any suspicions. Food fraud thrives when nobody asks questions. It slips quietly onto menus dressed up as “local” or “farm fresh”, and unless someone leans in a little closer, it stays there unchallenged.

If a restaurant says it supports local producers, ask what that actually means. Where is the produce coming from, and what exactly is sourced nearby? If a farm is named on the menu, go one step further and ask which ingredients are genuinely coming from that farm. It’s a simple question, but one that keeps everyone honest.

You can also use your phone as a kind of truth detector. Take a photo of the dish, tag the farm, and let them confirm whether their produce is really on the plate. Most producers are proud of their partnerships and quick to respond.

When it’s genuine, celebrate it loudly. Share it, talk about it, and support the venues doing the right thing. And when it’s not? Call it out, politely but firmly, and ask them to fix it.

Australia’s New Seafood Labelling Laws: What Every Diner Needs to Know

Australia is finally tightening the net on seafood transparency, and it’s a big deal for anyone who eats fish in restaurants. From 1 July 2026, new laws under the Australian Consumer Law will require restaurants, cafés, pubs and takeaway shops to clearly identify where their seafood comes from.  Until now, country-of-origin labelling mostly applied to supermarket seafood, not what you ordered at a restaurant. That gap is now being closed.

The simple rule: A, I or M

Menus will need to tell you if the seafood is:

• A – Australian
• I – Imported
• M – Mixed origin

This can be shown as letters (with a legend) or written out in full, like “Barramundi (Australian)” or “Prawns (imported)”.

And importantly, this information must be visible before you order, not hidden in fine print or only available if you ask.

What has to be labelled

If a dish is marketed as containing seafood, the origin must be disclosed. That includes:

• Fish and chips
• Prawns, oysters, lobster, crab
• Mixed dishes like marinara or laksa

It applies whether you’re dining in, grabbing takeaway or ordering delivery.

Why this matters (and why it’s happening now)

This isn’t just bureaucracy. It’s a response to years of concern about:

• Misleading menu claims
• Imported seafood being passed off as local
• Lack of transparency in supply chains

Studies have even shown mislabelling issues, like fish sold under generic names not matching the actual species.

The new laws are designed to give diners clear, upfront information so they can make informed choices about sustainability, quality and supporting local producers.

How to avoid food fraud

Just like you, I want to ensure the food I eat is pure and correctly labelled.  It can be expensive to eat well, and paying a premium price for false promises is more than annoying.

What do I do?  Here’s a list of ways to avoid the most common food frauds in Australia.

1. Buy local from people that you know. Establish a relationship with your butcher, baker, fishmonger and greengrocer and ask their advice when purchasing. Visit food festivals and meet local producers. Here’s a list of the top Australian food festivals.
2. Subscribe to food boxes from people in your region.
3. Visit farmers’ markets and buy from stallholders who sell their own produce. Here’s a list of markets in South East Queensland.
4. Grow your own. I often end up feeding the local possums, but the satisfaction of picking my own lettuce and herbs is high.  If only I could get to the tomatoes and strawberries before the possums. Here’s how to grow bush tucker in your own backyard.
5. Ask the question. Check the label. And if something feels a bit off, you’re now better equipped to spot it.

So, before your next meal, take a moment to consider: Do you really know what you are eating? Unveil the unsettling truth behind the most common food frauds in Australia and learn how to safeguard your plate from counterfeit ingredients and misleading labels before you take that next bite!

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