News

One in four UK medium-to-large businesses experienced fraud in 2024.  The most common vulnerabilities cut across sector and food industry businesses have been amongst the victims.  They include cyberattacks, unauthorised push payment fraud, and cargo theft using sophisticated fake commercial documentation or company details.

 The UK Government have published their Fraud Strategy 2026 = 2029.  Highlights include

1 Increased investment

• Over £250 million of additional funding.

2  Strengthened public-private collaboration

Launch of a new Online Crime Centre in April 2026, with £31 million committed to improving intelligence‑sharing between law enforcement, national security agencies and private‑sector partners.

3 Sector‑specific interventions,

Including Calls for Evidence in 2026 on:

• proportionate measures to reduce anonymity in the UK communications sector;
• drivers of unauthorised push‑payment (APP) fraud.
• Development of a secure digital tool to manage UK telephone numbers.

4 Improving the reporting system

Further improvements to Report Fraud (introduced in December 2025), with a focus on better technology, faster referrals, and enhanced victim support.

5 Supporting victims

Introduction of a Fraud Victims Charter in 2027, establishing minimum national standards for response times, reimbursement guidance, prevention, recovery and access to support services.

6 Strengthening civil and criminal justice

• Introducing judge‑only trials for the most complex fraud cases to reduce delays in court.
• Consideration of Jonathan Fisher KC’s recommendations to tackle barriers to prosecution and modernise the legislative framework.
• Responsible use of AI to modernise disclosure processes. This is to address the problem that fraud cases take almost eight times longer than the average case to reach charge.
• Exploration of civil penalties for fraud and for facilitating money laundering,  These would be as an alternative or complement to criminal proceedings.

Additional commitments

• Sponsoring the Global Fraud Summit.
• Expanding the Stop! Think Fraud public‑awareness campaign.
• Increasing proactive policing as part of the national PROTECT response.

Summary taken from Lexology blog by Freddy Faull, Edmunds, Marshall & McMahon

Photo by Bermix Studio on Unsplash

The Food Authenticity Network works on a 3-year governance cycle of strategies and targets.  We have been working on our strategy for 2025-2027, and have published a summary here.  Please take a look.  The document summarises our achievements over the past 3-year period and lays our path for the next.

The strategy restates our commitment to being an open-access network, free to all global stakeholders, advancing and sharing best practice in food fraud prevention and detection.  We will leverage our impact by collaborating with other likeminded organisations.  We will seek to accelerate our successful membership growth (currently over 5,700 members), reducing our current bias towards UK members (currently 50%) by targeting membership growth particullarly within Europe and the "5-eyes" intelligence alliance countries.  We will continue to review the resources we offer and signpost, in order to provide maximum benefit and insight to our members, from multinational food companies and testing laboratories to local small businesses and enforcement officials.  The strategy relies upon a sustainable funding model, and includes targets to grow and diversify our valued funding partner organisations and to strengthen the resilience of our IT infrastructure.

As we approach our 10-year anniversary, our vision remains as a world where collaboration and shared best practices in food fraud detection and prevention creates a safer, more transparent, and trusted global food supply for all consumers.  It is as relevant now as it was at FAN's inception.

The UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) has published a 3-year corporate plan, which explains how their 5-year strategy will be turned into concrete actions.

In the next 3 years FSA want to:

• Maintain the current high levels of trust and confidence in the food system and FSA. 
• Maintain food standards, so that food is safe and what it says it is, and consumers can continue to have confidence in their food 
• grow our contribution to and influence on food that is healthier and more sustainable, building on the work we have started since we published our strategy 

Read the Executive Summary and the full Corporate Plan.

The Food Standards Agency launches its new five-year strategy, 2022 - 2027.

The FSA’s job, set out in law, is to safeguard public health and protect the interests of consumers in relation to food. FSA works closely with the UK Government and the governments in Wales and Northern Ireland, but it acts independently and transparently, led by science and evidence.

FSA's fundamental mission is food you can trust. This mission has remained constant since the previous strategy, published in 2015. However, the food system is evolving and the strategy to deliver this mission needs to reflect and anticipate change.

The FSA has greater responsibilities now that the UK is outside of the EU. New technologies and business models and changing consumer behaviours, means the FSA needs to think differently about how it can deliver its mission. FSA also needs to take account of growing public concern about health, sustainability and of affordability.

By food you can trust, FSA means a food system in which:

• Food is safe
• Food is what it says it is
• Food is healthier and more sustainable

Read the full version of FSA's new five year strategy here.