New sentencing guidelines may expose food professionals to fraud culpability

Leatherhead Food Research is advising the industry that failure to take reasonable measures to prevent supply chain fraud may constitute ‘risk of harm’ in a court of law. Responsible individuals tried on indictment could be sentenced to unlimited fines and up to two years imprisonment.

The majority of food industry suppliers operate with integrity. However, it is widely acknowledged that fraud is escalating globally and organised food crime is reported to be on the rise. There is no evidence that perpetrators deliberately sabotage food safety, but they do operate outside of the regulatory frameworks that safeguard food.

Following the 2013 meat adulteration scandal (commonly referred to as the horsemeat scandal) in Europe, new requirements related to food fraud were included in Issue 7 of the BRC Global Standard for Food Safety. Manufacturers and retailers must now reduce their potential exposure to fraud by conducting vulnerability assessments and introducing proactive measures to counter risk.

Professor Tony Hines, Director of Regulatory and Crisis Management at Leatherhead Food Research, says the situation is complex. He recommends that senior industry professionals make it their business to drive due diligence regimes and fraud mitigation strategies.

“By its very nature, food fraud undermines food safety protocols,” Hines explains. “And from today, individuals who fail to maintain food safety face stiffer penalties. Senior managers and directors have a personal duty of care to reduce exposure to fraud since it can be clearly associated with causing harm or risk of harm. That means insisting on greater transparency and traceability to identify weak points in the supply chain, then implementing proactive control measures to curtail the threat.”

Leatherhead Food Research advocates robust food intelligence systems, built on the same principles as the intelligence cycles of military and government agencies. Professor Tony Hines explored this in a report for the January issue of the World Food Regulatory Review: ‘Combatting Food Fraud With Intelligent Due Diligence’. A copy of the report is available via; Combatting food fraud.

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* The Sentencing Council’s Definitive Guideline for Health and Safety Offences, Corporate Manslaughter and Food Safety and Hygiene Offences which comes into action on 1 February 2016 is available via https://www.sentencingcouncil.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/HS-offences-definitive-guideline-FINAL-web.pdf

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Fiona McPherson
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Melissa Shone
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