Food fraud costing millions of euro

Food fraud is worth tens of millions of euro and it pays the wrongdoers, leaving consumers increasingly likely to end up eating food masquerading as something it is not, the European Parliament has warned.

They took the example of Ireland where the horse meat scandal was first unveiled, but the maximum fine of €30,000 is less than half the profit of €65,000 to be made from selling single container of horsemeat as beef.

“The chance of getting caught is low and the cost of getting caught is also low,” warned Dutch MEP Esther de Lange who investigated the situation for the European Parliament.