ABSTRACT
The food sector is highly attractive to criminals. First, it is lucrative, and notwithstanding its fragility, hardly suffers from economic turndowns. Second, it is strongly yet fragmentarily regulated, often poorly investigated, and the penalties applied to food-related criminal practices are usually of low deterrence. Public debate associates criminal phenomena occurring in the food industry with organized crime. The aim of this chapter is to study the characteristics of this infiltration and the responses of the food industry. Drawing upon relevant literature, official reports, judicial files, and semi-structured expert interviews, the chapter unpacks the ways organized crime is active in the food sector. It focuses on the factors that incentivize organized criminal groups to enter the food market. It then describes the activities perpetrated through the different stages of the food supply chain such as food frauds, labor exploitation in agriculture, or investments in food logistics and service. In addition, the chapter argues that in this economic sector, organized crime and corporate crime act similarly and are equally treated from a legal perspective. Lastly, it considers the organized crime countermeasures adopted by the food industry.
