As we are just baby steps into 2026, the biggest stories of the year (sorry, Maduro) surround the massive fraud revelations connected to Somalis operating bogus day care centers in Minnesota. Taxpayers have been ripped off by hundreds of billions of dollars. Investigations and indictments look to be coming soon, and it also appears that the daycare fraud ripples will be spreading quickly to other states like Ohio, Texas, California, and others.
But while day care fraud schemes are dominating the headlines right now, the bigger fraud story for 2026 will likely be one that hits most Americans much closer to home and right in their gut: FOOD FRAUD.
Late last year San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu launched a first-of-its-kind government lawsuit against 11 major manufacturers of ultra-processed foods, including Kellogg, Nestle, Coca-Cola, and PepsiCo, for contributing to a public health crisis. The action is not a traditional food fraud case, but rather a public nuisance and unfair competition lawsuit.
District attorneys and state. Attorneys General are currently exploring whether or not similar actions should follow across the country.
There are more traditional forms of food fraud that are also increasingly occurring that involve intentional mislabeling to deceive consumers, substituting lower grade products within the food and representing them as premium (olive oil being diluted with sunflower or canola oil, for example), false representations of geographic sourcing, and bogus claims of fruits or vegetables being “organic”, are just a few examples. Food fraud is a deliberate and intentional act to dupe customers about the identity, quality, and composition of food products for financial gain. While the primary motive is economic, the consequences can unintentionally lead to food safety issues. There is also evidence that organized crime is increasingly becoming involved in the food fraud industry.
Food fraud impacts consumers’ wallets, harms legitimate businesses, and can jeopardize public health. Public awareness is lagging far behind the size and scope of the issue, but that is likely to change in 2026.
Food fraud, in the form of intentional deceit and false claims, is definitely on the rise and will become an even bigger issue this year. Fed-up consumers are going after companies that falsely claim their beverages contain everything from mango to açai when they don’t, to simply misrepresenting portion sizes in ads.
One recent lawsuit questioned whether Buffalo Wild Wings’ “boneless wings” are actually chicken! Another lawsuit filed just this week targets McDonald’s regarding whether the McRib really contains rib meat!
The Trump Team is also getting into the “food fight” over food fraud. This week, Health and Human Services Secretary RFK Jr. announced that the Trump Administration is declaring war on ultra processed foods (UPFs), including the added sugars that dominate most of the food Americans devour. More than half of the calories consumed at home by both adults and children in the U.S. come from UPFs, according to a 2025 analysis from the National Center for Health Statistics.
Kennedy’s announcement comes months after launching his Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) initiative that has targeted harmful synthetic chemicals and dyes, linking them to health issues such as Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), obesity, and certain cancers. He has frequently pointed out that many of these dyes are already banned or require warning labels in the European Union and other countries, where companies use natural alternatives in the same products they sell in the U.S. Many US companies have been voluntarily pulling products from their shelves or eliminating some of these same dyes and chemicals.
The old warning “Buyer beware” should definitely be heeded by consumers, especially when making food and beverage purchases. Various forms of financial fraud are getting the most attention as the year begins. But expect concerns involving what we consume to gain traction as Americans realize the impact of fraud on their wallets is not nearly as significant as the impact of food fraud on their health.
Steve Gill is editor and publisher of TriStar Daily.
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