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The anatomy of ‘So-called Food-Fraud Scandals’ in the UK 1970–2018: Developing a contextualised understanding

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Abstract

In the last four decades, the food industry in the United Kingdom has been subject to a considerable number of so-called “food-fraud scandals”. These incidents mainly relate to actual, or alleged fraudulent activity which has resulted in public outcries about the criminality and industry malpractices which may underpin them. An analysis of these ‘scandals’ reveals that there is a ‘scripted’ nature to both their revelation and resolution, which can be modelled to help better understand how to investigate and theorise these incidents in context. This approach enables a better, more nuanced understanding of how to read the signs that link an incident to a given modus operandi and as a consequence enables relevant actors to take more appropriate and timely responsive actions, especially in the midst of a scandal narrative. Eight food related incidents are scrutinised, some termed scandals, and others that whilst receiving local or national media attention were not framed in the associated discourse as ‘being scandals.’ These case studies demonstrate the contextualised anatomies of each specific scandal to then identify the associated scripted themes and responses. The framework developed as an output from this research is of value in recognising the stages and nuances of a food-fraud scandal narrative.

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Notes

  1. We are minded here of the MP Edwina Curry and her comments on eggs and Salmonella and Businessman Bernard Matthews comments during the now infamous ‘Turkey Twizzler’ scandal. In 1988, Currie at the time a junior Health Minister warned the British public that most of the egg production in the UK were affected by Salmonella. This ill-advised statement had immediate ramifications and overnight caused egg sales in the UK to plummet. The comments all but ended her political career and angered farmers and others involved in the food supply chain. The scandal involving Matthews which was dubbed “turkey-twizzler gate” by the press in 2005 resulted from a PR disaster which was sparked by celebrity chef Jamie Oliver’s move to rid school dinners of the company’s processed meat products. Matthews survived that scandal but after several other business setbacks eventually sold his business to the 2 Sisters group.

  2. It also depends on the quality of the investigative journalism and the journalists per se and whether their pre- ordained hypothesis are both correct or capable of being sustained by the evidence.

  3. In this respect, it is helpful to turn to the lessons learned from the Grenfell Tower scandal because in that case the untold narratives centre around the scandalous maladministration of the incident and its investigation (see https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13604813.2018.1507099 ).

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  1. Aberdeen, Scotland, UK

    Robert Smith

  2. Royal Agricultural University, Stroud Road, Cirencester, Gloucestershire, GL7 6JS, UK

    Louise Manning

  3. Business School, York St John University, Lord Mayor’s Walk, York, YO31 7EX, UK

    Gerard McElwee

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  1. Robert Smith
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Correspondence to Louise Manning.

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Smith, R., Manning, L. & McElwee, G. The anatomy of ‘So-called Food-Fraud Scandals’ in the UK 1970–2018: Developing a contextualised understanding. Crime Law Soc Change 78, 535–558 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10611-021-10000-3

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