China does not have a national database of Economically Motivated Adulteration (EMA) events or suspicions. In this research article (open access) the authors collated 6477 reported events from central and local governmental websites (the State Administration for Market Regulation, China FDA, Chinacourt, etc.), online media (China Food Safety Net, Chinanews, Foodmate, Baidu, Sina, etc.), and the literature (CNKI), from 2000 to 2020.
Example chart from the report.
The authors have categorised trends by the type of fraud (e.g. adulteration, substitution), by the type of product affected (with meat products topping the list, but a long tail of other types of food) and also by Province. The report is illustrated by a range of pie charts and distribution graphs. It shows how trends in the specific types of fraud have changed over the past two decades although the total rate of incidence has remained high.
The authors conclude that food fraud is closely related to the local food industrial structure, consumption habits, and economic development. The EMAs will still be at a high level in the next 4 years based on the trend forecast line; therefore, production process supervision should be strengthened in high-incidence regions such as Guangdong, Shandong, Henan, Beijing, and Zhejiang, especially before the Spring Festival. Meat, vegetables and fruit are all high risk areas, as are frauds including of illegal addition, substitution or dilution and unqualified hygiene.
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