News

The National Food Crime Unit (NFCU) of the UK Food Standards Agency has issued an AMBER Food Crime Alert on the Risk of Distribution Fraud Thefts from Food Businesses.

There has been a recent increase in the reporting of distribution fraud being used as a method of stealing high value food products from UK based companies.

The method of theft will include impersonating an existing business and using falsified documentation such as email addresses, invoices or even fake websites.

WHY HAS THE NFCU ISSUED THIS ALERT?
This alert is based on recent reports of this methodology being used in high profile thefts of food. Because of this NFCU is sharing this information via industry groups in England, Wales and Northern Ireland to encourage vigilance to this potential risk, and that food businesses update any risk assessments and processes to increase their resilience to this form of fraud.

           ACTION RECOMMENDED

1. Ensure that this information is used to inform any vulnerability or fraud risk assessments with appropriate actions in place.
2. Inform relevant colleagues with responsibility for sales and customer contracts to be aware of any unusual or suspicious activity such as changes to bank details from existing customers or new customers requesting extremely large orders of high value items.
3. If unsure whether a purchase is legitimate, do not reply directly to contacts via email or messages. Instead use publicly listed information for the company that are attempting the purchase and contact them directly to validate the details you are being given.

CONTACT NFCU - If you become aware of information relevant to this Food Crime Alert, please share with us via:
WEBSITE – visit food.gov.uk and click 'Report' at the top of the page.
TELEPHONE –08000 28 11 80.
EMAIL – foodcrime@food.gov.uk.
Please quote the alert number A002 in correspondence. Our processes enable us to handle information discreetly.

Read full alert.

The UK National Food Crime Unit's self-assessment questionaire has recently been revised.  This 20-minute prompt to check for best practice in fraud resilience is particularly aimed at Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)

A curated link to the NFCU self-assessment is within the "Tools" list on the "Food Fraud Prevention" FAN pages.  It is always worth a quick check for other tools on the list which might be a good fit for your own organisation.

The NFCU have published their quarterly update for industry.

It covers the UK's updated Strategic Food Crime Assessment (described more fully in a FAN blog earlier this month), a specific warning about counterfeit vodka and a more general warning about meat composition and labelling, plus includes a section on best practice for goods-in checks.  Specific ingredients that are suffering current price or availability volatility are highlighted; UK lamb and pork, tea, edible oils, and lemon.

A new vacancy for a Senior Prevention and Relationship Management Officer has arisen at the Food Standards Agency's National Food Crime Unit (NFCU).

You will lead and line manage a team ensuring delivery of Prepare, Prevent and Protect projects, enabling the NFCU to achieve the intended outcomes of its 4P strategic and tactical action plans. Working closely with the food industry, other regulatory partners and internal partners, within the NFCU and wider FSA, the team work to support identification and mitigation of known vulnerabilities and emerging threats and risks. You’ll nurture and encourage the team to develop and implement innovative methods and tactics, from conception to delivery, which protect food businesses and the public.

You'll be playing your part in keeping food safe and what it says it is, and protecting UK consumers from deceptive practices in the food sector. 

For further information / to apply: Senior Prevention and Relationship Management Officer - Civil Service Jobs - GOV.UK

The deadline is 3rd September 2023.

A new vacancy for a Senior Intelligence Analyst has arisen at the Food Standards Agency's National Food Crime Unit (NFCU).

The role will be focussing on the delivery and assurance of NFCU's tactical and strategic intelligence analysis to better understand and communicate the food crime threat, as well as the support and development of NFCU's analyst and researcher cadre.

You'll be playing your part in keeping food safe and what it says it is, and protecting UK consumers from deceptive practices in the food sector. 

Home or hybrid working is available for this post.

The deadline is 6th August 2023.

For further information / to apply: Senior Intelligence Analyst - Civil Service Jobs - GOV.UK

The Food Standards Agency's National Food Crime Unit (NFCU) has published a video on the types of food crime you might come across and how to report it.

The NFCU and partners tackle food crime every day to make sure food is safe to eat and is what it says it is.

NFCU colleagues work closely with the food industry to ensure that businesses are well-informed and prepared so they know how to spot food crime and stop it.

This newsletter is intended to keep you informed of what the National Food Crime Unit (NFCU) believe to be the current issues that are affecting the food industry. It aims to improve awareness of significant or new trends in the food industry in order to strengthen the overall response to food crime.

The newsletter is available to FoodAuthenticity members by kind permission of the FSA National Food Crime Unit, but is not intended for onward dissemination. Please contact the NFCU Outreach Team if you would like others to receive this newsletter at: NFCU.Outreach@food.gov.uk.

         Read:

• English version
• Welsh version
• European Distribution Fraud (EDF): Prevention Checklist

The European distribution fraud (EDF) questionnaire has been created by the National Food Crime Unit (NFCU) for the food industry to help fully understand potential vulnerabilities regarding EDF.

The NFCU would like to invite you to complete this questionnaire as the data captured will help in the development of bespoke materials to address these issues and share best practice amongst industry allowing food businesses to potentially develop/implement procedures to protect themselves from EDF.

The questionnaire should take no more than 10 minutes of your time. All submissions are anonymous unless you choose to provide your companies name within the questionnaire. If you have any issues accessing the questionnaire or would like to give more information after completing the questionnaire, please send an email to NFCU.Prevention@food.gov.uk 

Questionnaire Link.

The UK National Food Crime Unit has launched a new newsletter. 

This newsletter is intended to keep you informed of what the National Food Crime Unit (NFCU) believe to be the current issues that are affecting the food industry. It is aimed at all sectors. It aims to improve awareness of significant or new trends in the food industry in order to strengthen the overall response to food crime.

The first edition includes articles on:

• Covid-19
• Theft of Meat
• European Distribution Fraud
  (EDF)
• Food Service Sector
• Cannabis edibles - THC laced sweets
• Shellfish allergy triggered by straws
• Mass culling of birds

If you want to receive copies of the NFCU's Food Crime Newsletters then sign up at NFCU.Outreach@food.gov.uk. or become a Member of the Food Authenticity Network for free and they will be emailed, when available, with our Monthly Highlights Emails.