Food Fraud: Counterfeit Spices, Honey, and Olive Oil Carry More Than Economic Risks

Food Fraud: Counterfeit Spices, Honey, and Olive Oil Carry More Than Economic Risks

When shoppers think about food fraud, they usually imagine economic tricks: expensive olive oil labeled as “extra virgin” when it is not, honey diluted with sugar syrups, or saffron bulked out with cheaper threads. Those scams cost consumers and honest producers billions of dollars worldwide. The public-health danger is less obvious but just as real. Fraudulent or adulterated spices, honey, and olive oil have repeatedly carried biological and chemical contaminants, from Salmonella hiding in dried spices to lead and cadmium in cheap oils, that can make people sick or create chronic toxic exposures.

How Fraud Creates New Contamination Pathways

Food fraud usually aims to increase margin: adulterate an expen