The global market for herbs and spices is complex with diverse supply chains and products being sourced from a variety of businesses ranging from large scale producers to smallholders. Many herbs and spices grow wild and are farmed on a village or subsistence scale, and there are often many intermediaries in the supply chain from farmer, collector to middle-man before arrival at the origin processor / shipper, as shown in the Supply Chain Map in Annex II of guidance and shown here:
Protecting the authenticity of herbs and spices is of the utmost importance given that many are materials that may be of high intrinsic value. Food businesses need to ensure that they have appropriate controls and mitigation measures in place to prevent or detect product vulnerabilities. As with any raw material and its supply chain, the emphasis should always be on prevention rather than detection of issues. As each herb and spice is unique, this document concentrates on identifying and assessing general vulnerabilities.
The original guidance was developed by a Joint Industry Working Group comprised of representatives of the British Retail Consortium, Food and Drink Federation and Seasoning and Spice Association, in liaison with the Food Standards Agency and Food Standards Scotland.
This document provides Industry Best Practice Guidance on vulnerability assessment for culinary dried herbs and spices (including blends of) and it has been developed to help food business operators of all sizes strengthen preventative controls, enhance supply chain understanding, and collectively safeguard product integrity.
Download the guidance here.
The document has also been added as a new guide in the 'Tools / Guides / Reports' part of our Food Fraud Prevention section.
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