Food Crime Research Articles

The Universal Neighborhood Effect Averaging in Mobility-Dependent Environmental Exposures.

The neighborhood effect averaging problem (NEAP) is a fundamental statistical phenomenon in mobility-dependent environmental exposures. It suggests that individual environmental exposures tend toward the average exposure in the study area when considering human mobility. However, the universality of the NEAP across various environmental exposures and the mechanisms underlying its occurrence remain unclear. Here, using a large human mobility data set of more than 27 000 individuals in the Chicago Metropolitan Area, we provide robust evidence of the existence of the NEAP in a range of individual environmental exposures, including green spaces, air pollution, healthy food environments, transit accessibility, and crime rates. We also unveil the social and spatial disparities in the NEAP's influence on individual environmental exposure estimates. To further reveal the mechanisms behind the NEAP, we perform multiscenario analyses based on environmental variation and human mobility simulations. The results reveal that the NEAP is a statistical phenomenon of regression to the mean (RTM) under the constraints of spatial autocorrelation in environmental data. Increasing travel distances and out-of-home durations can intensify and promote the NEAP's impact, particularly for highly dynamic environmental factors like air pollution. These findings illuminate the complex interplay between human mobility and environmental factors, guiding more effective public health interventions.

Abstract P408: Association of Social Risk Factors with Cardiovascular-Kidney-Metabolic Syndrome at Baseline in Youth with Hypertension Disorders: A SUPERHERO Analysis

Poor cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic (CKM) health is associated with an increased risk for cardiovascular disease events and cardiovascular mortality in adults. There is a disproportionate burden of CKM syndrome among adults with social risk factors, and the presence of social risk factors can contribute to health and healthcare disparities in patients with CKM syndrome. Nothing is known about the association of social risk factors with CKM syndrome in youth with hypertension disorders. We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of baseline data from the Study of the Epidemiology of Pediatric Hypertension (SUPERHERO), a retrospective Registry of electronic health record data obtained using standardized and validated biomedical informatics scripts. Inclusion criteria were youth <19 years old who received care from subspecialists for hypertension disorders from 1/1/2026–12/31/2023 defined by ICD-10 codes. Exclusion criteria were kidney failure on dialysis, kidney transplantation, or pregnancy by ICD-10 codes. The outcome was CKM syndrome defined by ICD-10 codes and included no risk, stage 1 and stage 2 CKM syndrome; for this analysis we excluded those who were unclassified ( n =630, 7%). Exposure was presence of at least one social risk factor defined by ICD-10 codes and included food access, transportation, housing, income, education, employment, family, and crime. We used directed acyclic graph-informed bivariate generalized linear models; no biasing paths were present so no additional covariates were included. Of 8,726 participants, the mean age was 12.8 years ( SD 4.5) and 62% were male. CKM syndrome stage 1 prevalence was 20% and CKM stage 2 was 65%. Seventy-four (0.8%) youth had at least one social risk factor. Presence of social risk factors was not associated with CKM syndrome (OR 0.9, 95% CL 0.6 to 1.5). Among youth referred for hypertension disorders, we found that those with social risk factors were not more likely to have CKM syndrome. Given the low prevalence of social risk factors by ICD-10 codes only in this early SUPERHERO phase, there is a critical need for a transdisciplinary approach to more comprehensively screen for and identify social risk factors. Further investigation into this important topic may inform risk stratification based on presence of social risk factors and targeted interventions to improve CKM health. Future SUPERHERO analysis will investigate the impact of interventions addressing social risk factors on CKM health outcomes.

Crime and Nourishment: A Narrative Review Examining Ultra-Processed Foods, Brain, and Behavior

Recently, there has been increased scientific and clinical interest in the potential harms associated with ultra-processed foods, including poor mental health, aggression, and antisocial behavior. Research spanning epidemiology, mechanistic pre-clinical work, addiction science, microbiome and exposome science, and human intervention trials has underscored that nutrition is of relevance along the criminal justice continuum. As such, the emerging dietetics research is salient to the thousands of international psychologists and allied mental health professionals that are engaged in justice work, including forensics, prevention, and intervention. In addition, relationships between nutrition and behavior relate to “food crime”, an emergent area unifying criminal justice researchers with psychology, public health, and other interdisciplinary sectors. Food crime scrutinizes the vast harms, including non-communicable diseases and adverse behavioral outcomes, as influenced by the distribution of addictive ultra-processed food products. Here, we examine the emergent research, including biophysiological mechanisms, and evidence indicating that dietary patterns/components intersect with psychosocial vulnerabilities linked with risks of antisocial behavior and justice involvement. Viewed through a prevention lens, the study of nutrition and aggressive behavior should be prioritized, especially if the outcomes emerge as externalities of the global consumption of ultra-processed food. In the context of criminal justice and behavior, there is a need for forensic examination of how industry influence and power structures can undermine matters of food justice.

Neurolaw: Revisiting Huberty v. McDonald’s through the Lens of Nutritional Criminology and Food Crime

Recent studies have illuminated the potential harms associated with ultra-processed foods, including poor mental health, aggression, and antisocial behavior. At the same time, the human gut microbiome has emerged as an important contributor to cognition and behavior, disrupting concepts of the biopsychosocial ‘self’ and raising questions related to free will. Since the microbiome is undeniably connected to dietary patterns and components, the topics of nutrition and microbes are of heightened interest to neuroscience and psychiatry. Research spanning epidemiology, mechanistic bench science, and human intervention trials has brought legitimacy to nutritional criminology and the idea that nutrition is of relevance to the criminal justice system. The individual and community-level relationships between nutrition and behavior are also salient to torts and the relatively new field of food crime—that which examines the vast harms, including grand-scale non-communicable diseases and behavioral outcomes, caused by the manufacturers, distributors, and marketers of ultra-processed food products. Here in this essay, we will synthesize various strands of research, reflecting this emergent science, using a notable case that straddled both neurolaw and food crime, Huberty v. McDonald’s (1987). It is our contention that the legalome—microbiome and omics science applied in neurolaw and forensics—will play an increasing role in 21st-century courtroom discourse, policy, and decision-making.

Nutritional Criminology: Why the Emerging Research on Ultra-Processed Food Matters to Health and Justice.

There is mounting concern over the potential harms associated with ultra-processed foods, including poor mental health and antisocial behavior. Cutting-edge research provides an enhanced understanding of biophysiological mechanisms, including microbiome pathways, and invites a historical reexamination of earlier work that investigated the relationship between nutrition and criminal behavior. Here, in this perspective article, we explore how this emergent research casts new light and greater significance on previous key observations. Despite expanding interest in the field dubbed 'nutritional psychiatry', there has been relatively little attention paid to its relevancy within criminology and the criminal justice system. Since public health practitioners, allied mental health professionals, and policymakers play key roles throughout criminal justice systems, a holistic perspective on both historical and emergent research is critical. While there are many questions to be resolved, the available evidence suggests that nutrition might be an underappreciated factor in prevention and treatment along the criminal justice spectrum. The intersection of nutrition and biopsychosocial health requires transdisciplinary discussions of power structures, industry influence, and marketing issues associated with widespread food and social inequalities. Some of these discussions are already occurring under the banner of 'food crime'. Given the vast societal implications, it is our contention that the subject of nutrition in the multidisciplinary field of criminology-referred to here as nutritional criminology-deserves increased scrutiny. Through combining historical findings and cutting-edge research, we aim to increase awareness of this topic among the broad readership of the journal, with the hopes of generating new hypotheses and collaborations.

Food crime: An often-ignored money laundering typology and a predicate crime

Food crimes, including adulteration, poisoning, mislabelling, and misrepresentation of information, have cost billions in the global food industry. The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has highlighted the weaknesses of the food supply chain. Unfortunately, such weaknesses are exploited by actors to engage in illicit activities. Consequently, this work aims to highlight the inherent susceptibility of the food sector to being exploited to launder illicit funds and as a predicate crime for generating illicit funds. This study emerges from two independent systematic literature reviews on trade-based money laundering and food crime to identify a knowledge gap highlighting the dual role of the food sector, both to launder illicit funds and as a predicate crime generating such funds. It adopts a viewpoint approach by considering the factors identified in the academic literature to outline the vulnerabilities of the food sector to illicit practices. The novelty of this study lies in focusing on the dual role of the food sector, which to date has been ignored.

Food crimes: A major challenge that requires more attention

Food crimes: A major challenge that requires more attention

Obesogenic environment around schools is associated with atherogenic risk in Brazilian children.

Cardiometabolic risk factors often emerge in childhood, increasing the risk of cardiovascular diseases in adulthood. The school environments represent an important active space in a child's routine and may influence their health status. In this cross-sectional study, we aimed to evaluate the clustering of cardiometabolic risk factors and its association with the obesogenic and leptogenic environment around schools. A total of 378 children (181 boys; 197 girls) aged 8 and 9 years, enrolled in all urban schools of Viçosa, Minas Gerais, Brazil, were evaluated. Concentrations of high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-c) and triglycerides (TG), and the insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), waist circumference (WC), and mean arterial pressure (MAP) were measured. The neighborhood income, walkability index, predominantly ultra-processed food stores, public spaces for leisure and/or physical activities, traffic accidents, crime and green spaces densities were assessed in 400 road network buffers around schools. To test association of the obesogenic and leptogenic environment around schools with cardiometabolic risk clustering, binary logistic regression models were performed with generalized estimating equations. "Obesogenic school environments" had greater densities of ultra-processed food stores, crime and traffic accidents, and higher walkability. The "↓ Atherogenic risk" cluster consisted of higher HDL-c values. There was an inverse association between the obesogenic environment around schools and a child's "↓ atherogenic risk" clustering (OR=0.63; p < 0.001). We concluded that public policies aimed at modifying the environment around schools, by providing healthier food options and safe conditions for active mobility, are essential to prevent child's atherogenic risk.

The Emergence of Halal Food Crimes amidst COVID-19: An Analysis of Illegal and Frozen Meat Issues in Brunei Darussalam

COVID-19, caused by SARS-CoV-2, is a zoonotic respiratory epidemic declared a global public health emergency by the World Health Organization (WHO). As a result, COVID-19 has caused food shortages in almost every country, including Brunei Darussalam. During the COVID-19 pandemic. Brunei has had shortages of meat products such as chicken, lamb, and processed meat. Food crime, such as smuggling meat products in Brunei Darussalam, has resulted from halal meat shortages. Therefore, this paper aims to examine the causes of halal-related food crimes in Brunei Darussalam and the proposed solutions. This study employs a library research method, and the data gathered is analysed qualitatively. This study discovered that, amid COVID-19, there are emerging threats of food criminality. As a result, relevant parties face a significant challenge in not only combating food criminality, which has the potential to harm the halal food industry but also in managing food shortages.

Direction of Food Defence in Post COVID-19 Era for Malaysia’s Halal Ecosystem

The pandemic of COVID-19 has stricken the world economy significantly since its first outbreak. This also affected the Malaysian economy where many businesses have halted their operation due to the outbreak as well as movement restriction order (MCO) issued by the government. Nevertheless, the condition in Malaysia is seemingly improved since the vaccination programme set by the government has reached a 78.9% vaccination rate of the total population by the first quarter of the year 2022. Currently, the Malaysian government has now in the transition from the pandemic phase to endemic phase and relaxed the imposition of restrictions that were previously enforced. This allows business operation to regain their grip in the post COVID-19 era. Despite the fragility of the supply chain particularly within the halal ecosystem, a vital aspect that is almost neglected is the encroaching food crime incidents, and the food defence approach which encompasses the protection of food supply chain against intentional contamination is still on high alert. The incidence of meat cartel in late 2020 has warned that food crime is not seizing nor hindered its operation. Therefore, a robust approach needs to be addressed to defend the food supply chain, and more importantly the halal ecosystem. Therefore, this study is carried out to examine the future direction of food defence in the post COVID-19 era in Malaysia. This study utilizes library research to collect the data by using online databases such as Google Scholar, Emerald, Science Direct and SCOPUS. This study also presents strategies for reinforcing the integrity of the food supply chain against the threat of intentional contamination from the perspective of the halal ecosystem.

Food crimes, food harms and the food system – SI introduction

Food crimes, food harms and the food system – SI introduction

The scope of food fraud revisited

Food fraud is an emerging field of study in academic literature. The aim of this paper is to evaluate whether current understanding of food fraud in literature is in congruence with incidents of food fraud in the Netherlands. The discussion that follows is based on an analysis of 53 empirical cases on food fraud investigations conducted at the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA), the nationwide enforcement body tasked with investigating food fraud. The findings elucidate the differences between food fraud and other (food) crime and highlight the discrepancies with academic definitions to date, most notably with respect to incidents of ‘food laundering’ and by emphasizing the existence of intentional facilitators. We thus suggest adjusting the scope of what type of behavior can be considered as food fraud by conceptualizing three forms of food fraud: food laundering, fraudulent food enhancement, and facilitative food fraud. Food laundering encompasses the use of illegal material as food, whereas fraudulent food enhancement describes a situation where legal food is value-enhanced through deceitful cost-cutting measures. Facilitative food fraud captures the role of facilitative actors that operate illegally and intentionally for economic advantage. Based on these concepts, we suggest a modified definition as follows: food fraud is committed by any actor who is intentionally involved in illegal acts for economic advantage, thus causing or facilitating illegal food to be laundered into the supply chain or for food to be fraudulently value-enhanced. Future research should focus on testing these concepts and this definition with empirical studies from different regions and regulatory settings, and introduce additional data sources outside of enforcement, such as employee or victim surveys.

Incidence and characteristics of food-related criminal cases in Finland

Food fraud is an increasingly acknowledged problem that can cause unfair competition in the market, contribute to the grey economy, cause financial losses and threaten the health of consumers. Even so, little research exists on food-related criminal cases. The aim of this study was to characterize Finnish food-related criminal cases in order to improve understanding of the prevention of food-related crime. We investigated 127 cases resolved by the police, prosecutors, or district courts under the titles of food offence, health offence or marketing offence from 2008 to 2019. The analysis revealed that the incidence of cases was low and varied regionally, which may be due to varying abilities to detect cases and differences in reporting them to the police. The most common non-compliances in the cases we analysed were unapproved or unregistered premises or activities (43.3%), false or misleading information provided on food products (39.4%), and insufficient or incorrect, false or misleading documents (31.5%). Safety hazards were associated with 45.7% of cases, while 2.4% involved verifiable instances of illness, which demonstrates that preventing food crime is important for consumer safety. The majority of cases (51.2%) were detected during food control inspections, highlighting the importance of performing inspections on-site. In addition, tip-offs to food control authorities about possible food-related crime (29.1% of cases) were an important mode of detection and could possibly be even more important if Finland were to have a centralized anonymous whistleblowing system. In total, 59.8% of cases led to a conviction or a sanction, and the most common type of punishment was a fine. Nevertheless, the fines tended to be rather low, and the proceeds of crime were recovered in only a few cases. More training for food control inspectors on the detection of food-related crime, harmonized reporting practices, and increased legal praxis throughout the country could improve the detection and prevention of food crime in the future. • Food-related crime is a regular but rarely reported occurrence in Finland. • Food control inspections and tip-offs are important in case detection. • A safety hazard was commonly associated with the cases. • Punishments were rather lenient and the proceeds of crime were seldom reclaimed. • More training in case detection and harmonized practices in reporting are needed.

Has the Lack of a Unified Halal Standard Led to a Rise in Organised Crime in the Halal Certification Sector?

In recent years, halal certification has become an area of significant interest due to the high level of Muslim awareness about halal products, with the development of halal hubs and investments in Muslim countries. Unfortunately, the halal market is negatively affected by various factors, like the multiplicity of halal standards, disagreements between halal certification bodies and halal accreditation bodies, an increase in halal food crime in some countries, weakness of the authorities in ensuring the integrity of halal certification, and involvement with politics and religion, which have caused some anxiety among Muslim consumers. Therefore, the aim of this work is to inform lawmakers and animal welfare organisations in the EU regarding halal food. It shows data from literature regarding animal welfare in the EU and Islam, provides a critical consideration on the aim of a religious diet and its correlation with public health and food safety, and describes the state of the art of halal accreditation bodies (HAB) and halal certification bodies (HCB), in addition to providing information about gaps in the halal market, and a description of the unethical behaviour of some HCBs. The integrity of these bodies is necessary to make halal standards more comprehensive and efficient, and this can be achieved through the activation of a harmonised monitoring system for halal accreditation bodies in Muslim countries and national EU accreditation bodies.

The Criminogenic Nature of Food Production Harm Responses: A Case Study of Anaerobic Digestion Technology Subsidies in Northern Ireland

Meat production in its current shape is burdened with multiple environmental challenges. Technological solutions have been touted as a means of reconciliation of economic growth and environmental sustainability. In Northern Ireland, anaerobic digestion (AD) technology was presented as a solution for more sustainable animal waste management and greenhouse gas emission reduction in the context of the Going for Growth (GfG) agrifood strategy. AD sites were also eligible for the Renewable Obligation Certificates (ROCs) subsidy support scheme. While criminological engagement with the issues around food crime is yet inchoate, even less attention has been paid to the issue of the criminogenic nature of responses to food production harm. The paper fills this lacuna by discussing how an ostensibly positive initiative of incentivising AD through subsidy provision may have criminogenic potential: it may exacerbate environmental harm due to its ineffectiveness for dealing with ammonia emissions from animal waste, and create opportunities for deviance, such as breaches in planning regulation and subsidy fraud.

Review of A Handbook of Food Crime: Immoral and Illegal Practices in the Food Industry and What to Do About Them, 2018, Allison Gray and Ronald Hinch (Editors)

No abstract available.

Rural criminal collaborations and the food crimes of the countryside: realist social relations theory of illicit venison production

This article provides the first comprehensive criminological account of routinised illicit venison production in rural England. In doing so an epistemological reformulation and conceptual clarification of the overlooked problem is advanced, using extended fieldwork and a novel theoretical framework. The account of offending is refined to a type of illicit rural food enterprise supply chain misconduct, actualised by un-regulated industry processes. This kind of food crime is shown to be reliant upon suspects’ connectivity with small to medium food business operations and the routines of rural occupations. Such relations with licit rural-centric commerce are the necessary conditions of offending, which are enabled by the contingent conditions of sub-optimal game meat traceability systems and an absence of regulatory oversight at critical junctures. An outcome that is structurally inscribed into legislation and induces non-compliance. The article addresses the current lacuna of research on venison meat food crimes in the British context and advances an innovative realist social relations theory to explain the crime commissioning process.

Formy przestępczości żywnościowej na przykładzie branży mięsnej

The article deals with the topic of food crime. At the beginning, a short historical sketch was made. Then, on the basis of the English-language literature, the phenomenon of food crime was characterized, which is extremely comprehensive, as it has many verbal features. The above considerations constitute an introduction to the discussion of examples of adulteration of meat and meat products in the light of documents from the food inspections carried out. Then, describes the structure of the food control authorities in Poland and presents their disadvantages and proposes potential directions of their reforms.

Organised food crime: an analysis of the involvements of organised crime groups in the food sector in England and Italy

The food sector is subject to illegal practices of various types such as adulteration or exploitation of labour. In the media and public discourse, this phenomenon is often associated to activities by organised crime groups. Drawing on a socio-legal empirical study on the perception and conceptualisation of food crime in English and Italian public institutions, this paper unpacks the involvement of organised crime and mafia-type actors in the food sector. Considering data collected through in-depth interviews with representatives of law enforcement and other public authorities, supported by documentary sources, this research points out that, from both an institutional perspective that narrowly conceptualises as food crime as food fraud, as well as from a wider perspective that addresses other practices happening in the food sector, organised crime is involved in food crime. By referring to the English and Italian cases, and by merging different bodies of literature, such as green criminology and enterprise theory, this article advocates for conceptual clarity when referring to the involvement of corporate crime, organised crime and mafia-type groups active in the food sector. In so doing, it presents and reflects upon ‘organised food crime’ as a new socio-legal category and highlights its policy outcomes.

1083-P: Diabetes and Social Determinants of Health: A Web-Based Interactive Module

Social determinants of health (SDoH), the conditions in which we live, learn, work, and play, have a profound impact on health and lead to health disparities in our communities. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) created an interactive SDoH module within the US Diabetes Surveillance System to explore these disparities in the context of diabetes burden and risk factors (Figure). The module was launched with the CDC Social Vulnerability Index (SVI), which was created to identify communities needing support during hazardous events. The index is composed of Census Bureau data on 15 variables, grouped into 4 themes: socioeconomic status, household composition and disability, minority status and language, and housing and transportation. Percentile ranks are used to score areas from 0-1 on social vulnerability with 1 being the most vulnerable. SVI is available at the national level to compare counties across states and at the state level to compare counties within a state. In addition to SVI, CDC will scale this module to include other SDoH such as food insecurity, community walkability, and crime. Local, state, and federal public health practitioners may find this application useful for identifying disparities in SDoH and chronic disease and designing targeted interventions to reduce these disparities in the communities of greatest need. Disclosure S. R. Benoit: None. D. C. Shelton: None. Y. Wang: None. K. Batchu: None. K. M. Bullard: None. P. Cho: None. I. A. Hora: None. D. King: None. J. W. Reynolds: None. H. Xie: None. Y. Zhang: None. M. Aboneaaj: None.