Food Fraud from a Victimological Perspective: Financial, Health, and Ethical Implications

Food crime is a global and pervasive problem that harms consumers in many ways. The aim of the article is firstly to illustrate the impact food fraud can have. Secondly, demands for an adequate visualization of the victims are substantiated. However, criminology and victimology have only recently begun to deal with these effects. Using various examples of fraud, the financial, health, and ethical consequences for those affected are presented and discussed against the background of victimological issues. Of particular relevance here is the universal human right to food (see United Nations, Article 11 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights [ICESCR], 1999) which explicitly formulates the demand for food that also takes into account non-nutrient-based requirements in ethical or ideological terms. It also discusses why there is hardly any public awareness of the problem of food fraud and why the damage can hardly be quantified in monetary terms. It calls for those affected by serious food fraud to be given help in the form of victims’ assistance and for their status as victims to be recognized.