Enhancing the Sustainability of Food Supply Chains: Insights from Inspectors and Official Controls in Greece

Food fraud represents a growing global challenge with significant implications for public health, market integrity, sustainability, and consumer trust. Beyond economic losses, fraudulent practices undermine the environmental and social sustainability of food systems by distorting markets, misusing natural resources, and weakening incentives for authentic and responsible production. Despite the establishment of harmonized frameworks of the European Union for official controls, the increasing complexity of food supply chains has exposed persistent gaps in fraud detection, particularly for high-value products such as those with PDO (Protected Designation of Origin) and PGI (Protected Geographical Ιndication) Certification. This study investigates the perceptions, attitudes, and experiences of frontline inspectors in Greece to assess current challenges and opportunities for strengthening official food fraud controls. Data were collected through a structured questionnaire, validated by experts and administered nationwide, involving 122 participants representing all major national food inspection authorities. Statistical analysis revealed significant institutional differences in perceptions of fraud prevalence, with mislabeling of origin, misleading organic claims, ingredient substitution, and documentation irregularities identified as the most common fraudulent practices. Olive oil, honey, meat, and dairy emerged as the most vulnerable product categories. Inspectors reported relying primarily on consumer complaints and institutional databases as key tools for identifying fraud risks. Food fraud was perceived to contribute strongly to losses in consumer trust in food safety and product authenticity, as well as to the erosion of sustainable production models that depend on transparency, fair competition, and responsible resource use. Overall, the findings highlight detection gaps, uneven resources across authorities, and the need for improved coordination and capacity-building to support more efficient, transparent, and sustainability-oriented food fraud control in Greece.