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Food Standards Scotland (FSS) has this week launched its Food Crime Risk Profiling Tool, an online programme which allows companies to assess their vulnerabilities to criminality.

Using the tool allows businesses to assess themselves against a series of statements on topics, such as how they source materials and their supply methods, before being given an individual report at the end which will highlight areas of good practice as well including specific guidance on areas they may wish to improve on.

To support businesses through this process, FSS will be holding several free online workshops later this year to help develop opportunities to increase authenticity and improve food crime resilience – those who sign up to the tool will receive an invite to the workshops.

For more information and to sign up to the tool, visit: https://www.foodstandards.gov.scot/food-crime-risk-profiling-tool

The tool has also been added to the Tools_Guides_Reports part of our Food Fraud Prevention section.

The Joint Knowledge Transfer (KT) Framework Programme is a jointly funded cross-government (Defra/Food Standards Agency/Food Standards Scotland/Government Chemist) programme for knowledge transfer, aimed at:

•Creating better value for money by maximising resource use and delivering more sustainable and efficient approach to knowledge transfer
•Building analytical laboratory capability to respond to future food safety and fraud incidents
•Continuing to support delivery of the response to the 2014 Elliot review into the integrity and assurance of food supply networks following the 2013horse meat incident.

The report of the KT programme describes the activities undertaken during the first three-years, 2017 to 2020. The Deliverables of the programme included single day workshops, electronic seminars (e-seminars) and a set of work instructions as follows:

1. E-seminar on an introduction to designing quantitative PCR assays
2. E-seminar on an introduction to the digital polymerase chain reaction
3. E-seminar on DNA melting curve analysis
4. E-seminar on an introduction to quantitative PCR assay optimisation
5. E-seminar on Using service providers to undertake NGS analysis
6. E-seminar on an introduction to quantitative PCR assay validation
7. E-seminar on the Food allergens risk assessment, Part 1
8. E-seminar on an introduction to GMO detection
9. E-seminar on Fish speciation inclusive of the Label fish project
10. Workshop on an analytical roadmap for detecting allergens in spices
11. Workshop on the Evaluation and assessment of jelly mini-cups

The report is available here, and most of the above e-seminars and the workshop on allergens can be found by clicking the website Training tab.