No fewer than seven African nations ranked at the bottom of the barrel on the Food Fraud Vulnerability Index 2025 after researchers deemed them highly susceptible to consuming adulterated foods intentionally altered by manufacturers to cut costs and increase profit.

This was disclosed in a study by Wellness Pulse.

The analysis by Wellness Pulse found that countries suffering from extreme poverty and major food importers were the most at risk of adulteration.

The research found that expired food products could be re-labelled to alter the expiry date and repackaged by manufacturers and wholesalers seeking to avoid financial losses.

“International trade increases fraud potential due to extended supply chains and a lack of preventative legal strategies,” the report stated.

“More than half of the people in Sub-Saharan countries reported that they had experienced some form of food fraud, such as purchasing expired food products that were re-labelled with new expiry dates,” Wellness Pulse stated in its analysis. 

Egypt ranked in the bottom barrel of the list, with 10th place and the least food fraud risk score of 58.46.

According to the study, Egypt was assailed with inflation and an economic crisis that pushed its citizens to seek cheaper food alternatives at the expense of their health.

Despite being a tourist destination, Egypt has grappled with adulterated foods, and a 2022 study by the Electronic Journal of Biotechnology found that 17 of 35 meat products sold in Egypt had been adulterated.

The study showed that three other meat products “contained lard — a soft white substance made from pig fat, a common adulterant.”

Madagascar ranked 9th on the list with a food fraud risk score of 58.65 as researchers found that the African nation, buffeted by extreme poverty and hungry people, also had the third lowest GDP in the world.

The report further found that affordable foods sold on the streets and in restaurants were prepared in unhygienic environments. 

Jordan in the Middle East ranked eighth with a score of 58.75, while Guinea was in seventh place, scoring 63.37. Guinea’s score is largely attributed to its high volume of imported foods. 

Syria came sixth with a 65.30 food fraud score.

The report found that Syria’s high ranking in the Corruption Perceptions Index contributed to food fraud, stating that businesses are likely to continue the trend of making adulterated food given that there were no legal or ethical frameworks in place.

Benin Republic, a major food importer, ranked fifth on the I=index with a food fraud score of 71.65. According to the report, research suggested that countries that import their food are prone to fraud due to “extended supply chains.”

The majority of the foods imported to the Benin Republic are shipped to neighbouring countries.

“Most goods don’t stay in Benin. An estimated 90 per cent of imported staple foods like frozen poultry, rice, and dairy are re-exported to Western Nigeria or Niger through Benin’s Port of Cotonou, a major transshipment hub,” the report stated.

Chad placed fourth with 71.81, and Sierra Leone was third with 72.55.

Local police confiscated large supplies of palm oil, which had been adulterated with salt  and other unfamiliar chemicals, to sell at high prices 

Ivory Coast was second in the Index with 72.83, and Yemen placed first, scoring 82.73, due to a civil war that not only pushed Yemenis into extreme poverty but caused them to be heavily dependent on international food aid, “which isn’t always of the highest quality” according to the report.