A warning has been made over the risks of food fraud which is costing the UK up to £2 billion per year after Food Standards Scotland and the Food Standard Agency published their latest Food Crime Strategic Assessment.
Although the report found that the majority of food in the UK is safe and authentic, they do have concerns over the threat of food crime. Blame has largely been placed on huge recent geopolitical events around the world which have caused disruption in the food chain and left it open to fraud.
Those events, such as the Covid-19 pandemic, Russian’s invasion of Ukraine and Israel’s attacks on Palestine, have increased the risk of food crime.
Other key issues found in the report show that the disruption in the UK’s food supply in the post-Brexit world is also offering new opportunities to criminals while more is now known about the individuals involved in committing food crime.
The report is the organisations’ assessment of the threat facing the country from criminals who seek to profit from serious fraud within the food chain.
The assessment explores the range of factors thought to influence the food crime landscape as well as sharing what the key threats are within the intelligence picture.
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It discusses the seven different types of food crime which are document fraud, theft, waster diversion unlawful processing as well as substitution, misrepresentation and adulteration.
It is then shared with local authorities, government partners and industry to protect legitimate businesses and consumers from the threat.
Ron McNaughton is the head of the Scottish Food Crime and Incidents Unit at FSS and believes the disruption to the food chain in recent years has been ‘significant’ and is therefore causing problems across the board.
He said: "In the four years since our last strategic assessment, the UK food supply has faced significant disruption, creating new opportunities for criminal activity. This latest report outlines key food crime threats and highlights emerging risks within food systems due to external factors.
“Addressing food crime demands ongoing collaboration across regulatory bodies, law enforcement, and industry, with shared intelligence, data, and experience remaining vital to both this assessment and tackling food crime effectively."
Andrew Quinn, Head of the FSA’s National Food Crime Unit said: “We’re confident that in the UK most food is what it says it is, but even small levels of food fraud are unacceptable. Although it’s our view that food fraud is low, the risks are changing, and that is why we’ve worked with FSS to develop and publish the Food Crime Strategic Assessment today.
“Food businesses are the first line of defence in ensuring food is safe and authentic; the Food Crime Strategic Assessment encourages food businesses to know their supply chain and manage fraud risks within them. We’re sharing what they need to look out for and we’re encouraging businesses to take up our free support.
“The more we know about food crime, the better we can tackle it together with both the industry itself and our Local Authority partners to protect legitimate businesses and consumers.”
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