Consumers can be damaged by food fraud – financially, physically or even psychologically. Although economically motivated fraud in the food sector is far from new, few consumers or politicians are aware of the state of the law. Moreover, there has been little sociological or criminological research on the victimisation1 of consumers. If we are to guarantee effective consumer protection, we must enhance unannounced controls and establish appropriate punishments, so that illegal practices are no longer worthwhile to the perpetrator. We will show that there are unrecognised deficits in current knowledge.