Food fraud vulnerability assessment in the edible vegetable oil supply chain: A perspective of Chinese enterprises

The adulteration of edible vegetable oil is simple, but the detection is difficult, so it is a common target for fraudsters. To gain insight into the fraud vulnerability of the edible vegetable oil supply chain and then take more targeted measures to prevent and mitigate food fraud, we assessed the perceived fraud vulnerability of Chinese enterprises using the SSAFE food fraud vulnerability assessment (FFVA) tool and further applied multiple correspondence analysis (MCA) and nonparametric tests (Mann-Whitney U test & Kruskal-Wallis test) to compare the differences in fraud vulnerability between tier groups. Food fraud vulnerability in the FFVA questionnaire consists of three key elements: opportunities, motivations, and control measures. The results show that (1) Fraud factors related to opportunities in the Chinese edible vegetable oil supply chain have an overall medium-high vulnerability, while those related to motivations and control measures have medium and low vulnerability, respectively. (2) Producers have significantly higher perceived fraud vulnerability in terms of opportunities and motivations than retailers. (3) In the comparison between companies and workshops of producers, the perceived fraud vulnerability was significantly higher for workshops in terms of motivations and control measures and higher for companies in terms of opportunities, indicating that workshops are more vulnerable to committing fraud driven by economics and business culture and that they lack adequate measures to control fraud, in addition to the perception by companies that they are more likely to be victims of fraud. (4) The perceived vulnerability to fraud varies by the scale of enterprises.

Automated summary

The adulteration of edible vegetable oil is a common target for fraudsters, although the detection is difficult. To prevent food fraud, we assessed the fraud vulnerability of Chinese enterprises and compared the differences in vulnerability between tier groups. The results showed that the opportunities related to fraud in the Chinese edible vegetable oil supply chain have a medium-high vulnerability, while motivations and control measures have medium and low vulnerability, respectively. Producers are more vulnerable to fraud in terms of opportunities and motivations compared to retailers. Workshops have higher vulnerability in terms of motivations and control measures, while companies have higher vulnerability in terms of opportunities.