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Demeshko A, Clifford Astbury C, Lee KM, Clarke J, Cullerton K, Penney TL. The role of corruption in global food systems: a systematic scoping review. Global Health 2024; 20:48. [PMID: 38877483 PMCID: PMC11179269 DOI: 10.1186/s12992-024-01054-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/16/2024] [Accepted: 05/24/2024] [Indexed: 06/16/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Corruption exists at all levels of our global society and is a potential threat to food security, food safety, equity, and social justice. However, there is a knowledge gap in the role and impact of corruption within the context of the global food system. We aimed to systematically review empirical literature focused on corruption in the global food system to examine how it is characterized, the actors involved, its potential impacts, and the solutions that have been proposed to address corruption in the food system. METHODS We used a systematic scoping review methodology. Terms combining corruption and the food system were searched in Scopus, PubMed, Web of Science, PsycInfo and Econlit, in October 2021. Two screeners applied a priori selection criteria to screen the articles at the title and abstract and full-text levels. Data was extracted into a charting form and thematically synthesized to describe the types of corruption in the food system, the actors involved, how corruption impacts the food system, and potential solutions. Sankey diagrams and narrative summaries were developed to summarize the included studies and findings. RESULTS From the 238 included records, five main types of corruption were identified in the global food system: bureaucratic corruption, fraud, bribery, organized crime, and corporate political activity. These different types of corruption spanned across various food system areas, from policy and governance structures to food environments, and involved a wide range of actors. More powerful actors like those in public and private sectors tended to instigate corruption in the food system, while community members and primary producers tended to be impacted by it. The impacts of corruption were mostly negative and corruption was found to undermine food system governance and regulatory structures; threaten health, safety, and food security; and lead or contribute to environmental degradation, economic loss, erosion of trust, social inequities, and decreased agricultural productivity. While solution-oriented literature was limited, the essential role of strong governance, use of technology and predictive modelling methods to improve detection of corruption, and organizational approaches to problem solving were identified. CONCLUSION Our review findings provide researchers and policymakers with a comprehensive overview of corruption in the global food system, providing insights to inform a more holistic approach to addressing the issue. Addressing corruption in the food system is an essential element of supporting the transition to a more healthy, equitable and sustainable global food system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anastassia Demeshko
- Global Food Systems & Policy Research, School of Global Health, York University, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Chloe Clifford Astbury
- Global Food Systems & Policy Research, School of Global Health, York University, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Dahdaleh Institute for Global Health Research, York University, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Kirsten M Lee
- Global Food Systems & Policy Research, School of Global Health, York University, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Dahdaleh Institute for Global Health Research, York University, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Janielle Clarke
- Global Food Systems & Policy Research, School of Global Health, York University, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | | | - Tarra L Penney
- Global Food Systems & Policy Research, School of Global Health, York University, Toronto, ON, Canada.
- Dahdaleh Institute for Global Health Research, York University, Toronto, ON, Canada.
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Wu L, Tang H, Dai X, Chen X, Zhang J. Prevention of food fraud and fraud emulation among companies in the supply chain based on a social Co-governance framework. Heliyon 2024; 10:e30340. [PMID: 38737241 PMCID: PMC11088275 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e30340] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/08/2024] [Revised: 04/19/2024] [Accepted: 04/24/2024] [Indexed: 05/14/2024] Open
Abstract
This study develops a three-party evolutionary game model among upstream raw material producers, midstream food producers, and downstream distributors in the food supply chain, and investigates food fraud and fraud emulation among companies in the same group based on a food safety social co-governance framework. Moreover, the equilibrium points are divided into four scenarios according to the number of groups of companies committing fraud in the supply chain and whether companies in the same group emulate each other's fraudulent behavior. The stability conditions of these scenarios are also discussed and verified by numerical simulation in MATLAB. The results show that the behavioral strategy choices of different groups of food companies in the supply chain are closely related to the level of social co-governance involving the government, market, and consumers. Government regulation, supervision between companies, and consumer reporting can all change companies' behavioral strategies. Although the level of fraud emulation among companies in the same group does not change their behavioral strategy choice, it affects the time it takes for their behavioral strategy to evolve to a stable state. Moreover, the level of social co-governance directly affects companies' behavioral strategy choices at different emulation levels.
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Affiliation(s)
- Linhai Wu
- Business School, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, 214122, China
- Food Safety Risk Management Research Institute, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, 214122, China
| | - Hejie Tang
- Business School, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, 214122, China
| | - Xiaoting Dai
- Business School, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, 214122, China
| | - Xiujuan Chen
- Business School, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, 214122, China
| | - Jingxiang Zhang
- School of Science, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, 214122, Jiangsu, China
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Joenperä J, Lundén J. Food fraud detection and reporting by food control officers in Finland. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH RESEARCH 2024; 34:2230-2247. [PMID: 37726018 DOI: 10.1080/09603123.2023.2236977] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/10/2023] [Accepted: 07/12/2023] [Indexed: 09/21/2023]
Abstract
We studied food fraud detection and the reporting of suspected cases using a questionnaire survey and interviews with Finnish food control officers (FCOs). In total, 95 FCOs responded to the questionnaire, and 17 were interviewed. We found that even though many respondents had either suspected (69.2%) or detected (43.4%) food fraud or other food-related crime during the past five years, 46.8% thought they had no realistic chance of detecting food fraud during inspections. Challenges raised by the FCOs we interviewed included inadequate resources (8/17) and difficulties in inspecting documents or establishing their authenticity (14/17). Moreover, many interviewees highlighted difficulties in assessing whether to inform the police about a suspected case (7/17), and 62% (18/29) of respondents who had detected fraud had not reported it to the police. Training in food fraud detection, increased resources and guidelines on reporting suspected food fraud would improve food fraud detection and harmonize reporting.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jasmin Joenperä
- Department of Food Hygiene and Environmental Health, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Janne Lundén
- Department of Food Hygiene and Environmental Health, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
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Food Safety Governance in the Age of COVID-19: How Does Employees' Attitude on Public-Private Governance System Affect Their Willingness to Blow the Whistle on Food Violations? Healthcare (Basel) 2023; 11:healthcare11020167. [PMID: 36673535 PMCID: PMC9859080 DOI: 10.3390/healthcare11020167] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/04/2022] [Revised: 12/27/2022] [Accepted: 01/02/2023] [Indexed: 01/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Online food delivery increases dramatically during the COVID-19 era and has grown into a global marketplace worth more than $150 billion dollars, necessitating a more effective and responsive governance system. Public-private governance systems with whistleblowing to the public are seen as an effective tool for addressing the formidable challenges of food security in modern society. Accordingly, this study aims to explore the determinants of whistleblowing intentions and to propose policy policies for the whistleblowing system to fully utilize the advantages of public-private governance systems. Through empirical research, this paper finds that employees' perceived effectiveness of government authorities, as well as their familiarity with whistleblowing systems, positively affect their intentions to blow the whistle. However, the whistleblowing intent of restaurant employees is adversely affected by the online platform's focus. The root cause lies in the employee's trust in both the government sector and corporate sector. This study thus argues that a suite of measures to promote individual trust in public-private governance systems is desired and that this is an effective means of better mitigating food safety governance challenges in terms of capacity and resources.
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Oliveira LLD, da Silva AL, Pereira CR, Chaudhuri A. The stakeholder's roles in risk management related to food supply chain recalls: a systematic literature review. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF LOGISTICS MANAGEMENT 2022. [DOI: 10.1108/ijlm-05-2021-0261] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/18/2023]
Abstract
PurposeFood supply chains (FSCs) are becoming increasingly complex and vulnerable to recall risks due to quality failures. Measures for supply chain risk management can minimize these recall risks. However, this responsibility must be shared by all stakeholders in the chain. This study aims to analyze the roles of different stakeholders in managing risks in the events of food recalls.Design/methodology/approachA systematic literature review was carried out, and 110 articles were explored to identify risk management actions and to link them to the role of stakeholders involved in FSC recall.FindingsThe study found that nine stakeholders were responsible for 25 hazard management actions related to food safety and traceability systems, regulatory and preventive measures, and control and response mechanisms for food recalls in the FSC.Originality/valueThis article contributes to the literature by proposing an explanatory map associating risk management actions to different stakeholders in food recall. The actions were grouped according to whether they were prevention actions to avoid a food recall or contention actions to limit the negative economic effects and maintain the health of the population.
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Food forensics: techniques for authenticity determination of food products. Forensic Sci Int 2022; 333:111243. [DOI: 10.1016/j.forsciint.2022.111243] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/29/2021] [Revised: 02/23/2022] [Accepted: 02/24/2022] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
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Manning L, Kowalska A. Considering Fraud Vulnerability Associated with Credence-Based Products Such as Organic Food. Foods 2021; 10:1879. [PMID: 34441656 PMCID: PMC8393577 DOI: 10.3390/foods10081879] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/12/2021] [Revised: 08/02/2021] [Accepted: 08/11/2021] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Organic foods carry a premium price. They are credence-based foods, i.e., it is difficult for consumers to evaluate the premium aspects of organic food under normal use. In global supply chains, organic food is purchased on institutional trust (certification, logos, standards) rather than on relational trust. Relying on institutional trust makes consumers vulnerable to criminals who intentionally label conventional product as organic or develop sophisticated organized crime networks to defraud businesses and consumers. The aim of this research is to explore cases of organic fraud that are emergent from academic and gray literature searches to identify ways to strengthen future capabilities to counter illicit activities in a globalized food environment. Each case is considered in terms of perpetrator motivations (differentiated as economic, cultural, and behaviorally orientated drivers), the mode of operation (simple or organized), the guardians involved/absent, and the business and supply chain level vulnerabilities the cases highlight. The study finds that institutional trust is particularly vulnerable to fraud. Supply chain guardians need to recognize this vulnerability and implement effective controls to reduce the likelihood of occurrence. However, in some cases considered in the study, the guardians themselves were complicit in the illicit behavior, further increasing consumer vulnerability. Future research needs to consider how additional controls can be implemented, without increasing supply chain friction that will impact on food trade and supply, that can ensure consumers are purchasing what they believe they are paying for.
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Affiliation(s)
- Louise Manning
- School of Agriculture, Food and the Environment, Royal Agricultural University, Stroud Road, Cirencester, Gloucestershire GL7 6JS, UK
| | - Aleksandra Kowalska
- Institute of Economics and Finance, Maria Curie-Skłodowska University, pl. Marii Curie-Skłodowskiej 5, 20-031 Lublin, Poland;
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Charlebois S, Juhasz M, Music J, Vézeau J. A review of Canadian and international food safety systems: Issues and recommendations for the future. Compr Rev Food Sci Food Saf 2021; 20:5043-5066. [PMID: 34390310 DOI: 10.1111/1541-4337.12816] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/24/2021] [Revised: 06/27/2021] [Accepted: 07/03/2021] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
In January 2019, the Safe Food for Canadians Act/Safe Food for Canadians regulations (heretofore identified as SFCR) came into force across Canada and brought a more streamlined process to food safety practice in Canada. Food trade and production processes have evolved rapidly in recent decades, as Canada imports and exports food products; therefore it is critically important to remain aware of the latest advances responding to a range of challenges and opportunities in the food safety value chain. Looking through the optics of the recent SFCR framework, this paper places the spotlight on leading domestic and international research and practices to help strengthen food safety policies of the future. By shedding some light on new research, we also draw attention to international developments that are noteworthy, and place those in context as to how new Canadian food safety policy and regulation can be further advanced. The paper will benchmark Canada through a review study of food safety best practices by juxtaposing (i) stated aspirations with, (ii) actual performance in leading Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) jurisdictions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sylvain Charlebois
- Food Distribution and Policy, Faculty of Management, Faculty of Agriculture, Agri-food Analytics Lab, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
| | - Mark Juhasz
- Food Distribution and Policy, Faculty of Management, Faculty of Agriculture, Agri-food Analytics Lab, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
| | - Janet Music
- Food Distribution and Policy, Faculty of Management, Faculty of Agriculture, Agri-food Analytics Lab, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
| | - Janèle Vézeau
- Food Distribution and Policy, Faculty of Management, Faculty of Agriculture, Agri-food Analytics Lab, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
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Which Company Characteristics Make a Food Business at Risk for Food Fraud? Foods 2021; 10:foods10040842. [PMID: 33924386 PMCID: PMC8069500 DOI: 10.3390/foods10040842] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2021] [Revised: 03/30/2021] [Accepted: 04/08/2021] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Fraud can happen to any food business, but some sectors show more historical evidence of food fraud than others. This may be due to particular company characteristics that affect a company’s level of vulnerability. In the current study, we examined the relevance of the industry segment, business size, and location of food businesses on their food fraud vulnerabilities. Over 8000 food fraud vulnerability self-assessments conducted by food businesses active in 20 industry segments located in five continents were collected and the data analyzed. Results revealed that a company’s industry segment (chain and tier) affects its fraud vulnerability greatly and to a larger extent than the size of the business. The effect of industry segment on fraud vulnerability appears fairly similar across continents, whereas the effect of business size exhibits large geographical variation. The results demonstrate that those involved in animal product supply chains and end of chain nodes (catering, retail) are most vulnerable, and so are larger businesses, and businesses located in Africa and Asia. Current results imply that company characteristics are important determinants of the level of fraud vulnerability, and they may be used reversely in the future, i.e., as predictors of vulnerability.
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Barrere V, Everstine K, Théolier J, Godefroy S. Food fraud vulnerability assessment: Towards a global consensus on procedures to manage and mitigate food fraud. Trends Food Sci Technol 2020. [DOI: 10.1016/j.tifs.2020.04.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
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