Perspectives of Portuguese Food Business Operators regarding food fraud

: Food fraud scandals have exposed deficiencies within several food corporations, leading to growing awareness that Food Business Operators (FBOs) must improve their controls and adopt fraud-prevention strategies. This study aims to explore Portuguese FBOs' perspectives on food fraud. More than 500 FBOs, including members of food associations (Portugal Foods, FIPA), were invited to participate in the study by responding to a carefully designed questionnaire, via telephone interviews (CATI) or self-administered, resulting in a final sample of 100 FBOs. Statistical analyses, including the chi-square test per cell, nonparametric tests (Mann-Whitney, Kruskal-Wallis, Spearman's correlation, etc.), and binary logistic regression, were used at a significance level of p < 0.050. Most respondents believe that food fraud occurs at a stage of the food chain preceding their own. The most commonly reported types of food fraud were Substitution (especially in the food industry), Mislabelling, and Concealment. FBOs believed senior management and employees are aware of the problem and trust their raw materials and suppliers, although those previously exposed to fraud report lower confidence. The difficulty in visually detecting fraud, the availability of products, and the ease of adulterating are the three main vulnerability factors identified by FBOs respondents as contributing most to a food product's susceptibility. High vulnerability to food fraud is associated with certain company characteristics (main activity, business size, food safety certifications, import activity). This study provides a framework that supports policymakers and FBOs in designing more targeted prevention, monitoring, and capacity-building strategies.