‘Food Crime Confidential’ – a reporting facility where food crime can be reported safely and in confidence, over the phone and through email has been launched in the United Kingdom.

“Food Crime Confidential” is a project of UK’s Food Safety Agency’s (FSA’s) National Food Crime Unit  It is a  reporting facility where anyone with suspicions about food crime can report them safely and in confidence. The facility is particularly targeted at those working in or around the UK food industry.

The FSA’s National Food Crime Unit (NFCU) works with partners to protect people from serious criminal activity that impacts the safety or authenticity of food and drink they consume.

Food crime involves dishonesty at any stage in the production or supply of food. It is often complex and likely to be seriously detrimental to consumers, businesses or the general public interest.

Get in touch if you have information

NFCU would like to receive any information relating to suspected dishonesty involving food, drink or animal feed. In addition to identifying and being able to tackle specific instances of food crime, such information will help us learn more about the circumstances that make offending possible.

Food Crime is defined as ‘Financially motivated dishonesty relating to food production or supply, which is either complex or results in serious detriment to consumers, businesses or the overall public’.

The National Food Crime Unit would like to hear from anyone if they have suspicions about:

• food or drink that has potentially been adulterated or substituted
• methods used in workplaces for producing, processing, storing, labelling or transporting food that appears illegal or substandard
• companies or businesses that are selling items of food or drink that purport to be of a certain quality, suggest health benefits or claim to be from a specific place or region, but do not appear genuine or are suspected to be fake.

Call 0207 276 8787 or email foodcrime@foodstandards.gsi.gov.uk