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Food fraud and supply chain transparency
by allmanhall
In the wake of the food fraud reports regarding the processed meat industry, the CEO of the Food Standards Agency (FSA) has issued a pragmatic and realistic warning: “…at a time when cost pressures and other challenges mean the risks of food fraud might be increasing, it is vital everyone involved in the food chain works to ensure that food is safe and what it says it is.”
Farmers Weekly have advocated some sensible measures:
• Making digital record keeping mandatory
• Addressing the 15 minute gap between auditors signing in and entering the factory floor
• Displaying whistleblowing lines in factories clear.
• Undertaking independent mass balance assessments between the amount of UK product entering and exiting processors.
The recent reports of food fraud within the processed meat industry continue to emphasise the critical nature of this mission. And the importance of independently assessed external schemes in helping to map and monitor risk within UK and global supply chains.
Through EcoVadis, allmanhall actively and independently rates suppliers, to assess and validate supplier systems, policies, actions and results, encompassing Ethics, Labour, Human Rights and Sustainable Procurement. Our client and supplier relationships are established on fairness, integrity, longevity, and mutual respect. We require our suppliers to uphold these same values and to commit to bring about transparency in supply chains.
One of our supplier partners made this statement: “We do not tolerate any form of food fraud within our supply chain and take the accuracy of food origin claims extremely seriously.” allmanhall continues to play our part in bringing transparency and making information readily available. This enables an understanding and appreciation of what lies behind the food we all provide and consume, from a social, safety, environmental and quality perspective. Read our supplier code of conduct.
To read more about the food fraud reports that hit the headlines earlier this spring, take a look at the resources below:
• https://www.theguardian.com/food/2023/ mar/29/inquiry-launched-after-foreign-porkis-allegedly-sold-as-british
• https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/ business-65125811
• https://www.farmersguide.co.uk/thousandsof-tons-of-imported-pork-sold-as-british-inlatest-food-fraud-scandal/
