The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has published the first assessment of food crime in the UK. It has highlighted the most common items of food that are fraudulently manufactured and sold in the UK, plus gives details on the techniques and enablers for the fraud.
The Food Standards Agency has published a report on the food crime industry in the UK this week. The report will inform the National Food Crime Unit’s (NFCU) actions over the next year. The Food Crime Annual Strategic Assessment is carried out annually to ensure the FSA keeps UK consumers and businesses informed of the risks from food crime.
Common foodstuffs at risk of food crime:
- Dairy products
- Red Meat
- Alcohol
- Olive oil
- Rice
Common causes of food counterfeit are enabled by waste packaging falling into the wrong hands. This can be avoided by food packaging and labels being destroyed by a professional shredding company with a high security cross-cut shredder like Topwood.
Common packaging to be shredded includes:
- Bottle caps
- Labels
- Boxes
- Bags
Organizations should pay close attention to who has access to labels to protect against counterfeiting and fraud. An unauthorized person could steal labels then place them on a substandard product for economic gain, putting both product safety and brand reputation at risk.” Food quality and Safety
Common techniques of fraudsters include falsified or inaccurate documentation. We recommend that tight security controls are put in place to ensure that outside organisations or individuals cannot get hold of important documentation. This could include locked shredding consoles inside offices, and on-site shredding.
Watch our video: Topwood High Security Product and Packaging Destruction
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