After the scandal of horse meat in processed food in the food chain, all of the recommendations in the Elliott report on food integrity and assurance of food supply networks have been accepted by the government, Environment Secretary Elizabeth Truss announced.
The official report has called for a zero tolerance approach to food fraud. Chris Elliott said: “A food crime unit is urgently needed to protect our food industry and consumers from criminal activity, but it will repay investment by protecting the majority of businesses who work hard to provide safe and authentic food for UK consumers.” He called also for:
– unannounced audits on the supply chain;
– an ‘industry wide culture’ against food crime;
– companies to share intelligence;
– the Food Standards Agency and ‘food businesses’ to do more to allow staff and consumer to blow the whistle; and
– better links with agencies across Europe.
As for whether food could again be adulterated or fraudulently claimed to be one thing (beef) when it is in fact another (horse) as in the 2013 scandal, Elliott wrote that ‘the culture of adversarial procurement has not changed’. He summed up: “The food industry must above all else demonstrate that having a safe, high integrity food system for the UK is their main responsibility and priority.” As for how much actual food crime the UK has, the report said ‘criminals infiltrate supply chains of legitimate businesses without their knowledge’. Elliott’s interim report featured in our January issue. The Government said it accepted all the recommendations of the report.
Comment
Annette Barker, Forensic Director at KPMG, warned that unless organisations tackle weak links in their supply chain, they risk exposure to fraud and a repeat of the crisis. She said that the report represented a significant step forward in the battle to ensure the UK’s food supply is safe from harm. “By setting out the actions that can be taken to improve the integrity of food supply networks, it offers a blueprint to ensure food is protected from field to fork. The horsemeat scandal served as a stark reminder of the consequences of supply chain failure. Whilst the food industry has clearly made progress there is still much to be done to ensure robust controls are in place. How far, for example, have organisations gone to scrutinise their suppliers and brokers on an ongoing basis?
“The pressure to keep a steady supply of food at reasonable prices remains high which leads to suppliers looking for ways to keep costs competitive. Some food supply chains have become increasingly complex with agreements spanning the globe. Cost pressures and increased complexity naturally bring an increased risk of fraud. That is why the report is right to call for more stringent auditing of all aspects of the UK’s food supply chain. The importance of robust counterparty due diligence for organisations in today’s market cannot be overstated meaning that stark questions should be asked as to how far down the chain those procedures should go.”
According to the Coalition Government, shoppers should be able to understand where their food comes from and be protected from food fraudsters.
Professor Elliott’s review examines ways to prevent food fraud incidents from happening. It also looked into how to improve the culture of our food supply chain to support industry taking effective responsibility for the traceability of their products, support local authorities target enforcement activity based on risk and ensure consumers have an increased understanding of where their food comes from.
Speaking as the government published its full response to Professor Elliott’s report, Elizabeth Truss said: “We’re taking action to make sure that families can have absolute confidence in the food that they buy. When a shopper picks something up from a supermarket shelf it should be exactly what it says on the label, and we’ll crack down on food fraudsters trying to con British consumers. As well as keeping up confidence here, we need to protect the great reputation of our food abroad. We’ve been opening up even more export markets, which will grow our economy, provide jobs, and support the government’s long-term economic plan. The action we’re taking gives more power to consumers – meaning they’ve got better labelling on food, better education about where their food comes from, and better, locally-sourced food in schools and hospitals.”
Among other things, Prof Elliott called for a zero tolerance approach to food fraud including by the development of whistleblowing and reporting of food crime; unannounced audit checks by the food industry; and government and industry sharing intelligence. For the Elliott report on full visit the gov.uk website – https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/elliott-review-into-the-integrity-and-assurance-of-food-supply-networks-final-report
The final report follows an interim report published in December. Elliott is Professor of Food Safety and Director of the Institute for Global Food security at Queen’s University Belfast.
The government response has also been published: visit https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/elliott-review-of-the-integrity-and-assurance-of-food-supply-networks-government-response.
