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The UK Food Standards Agency has published a report that has developed a Cost of Food Crime (CoFC) model, which identifies and measures the economic and social cost of food crime.

Cost of Food Crime to the UK

• The total cost of food crime on the UK is estimated to be between £410 million and £1.96 billion per year.
• This is equivalent to between 0.07% and 0.33% of the UK food industry turnover each year (BEIS, 2021).
• The estimated value of fraudulent food and drink in the UK is between £296 million and £1.48 billion per year (discussed in Section 2.4 CoFC).
• The range in the estimated total cost of food crime represents the sensitivity to the volume of criminal activity, from crimes reported to estimates of total crimes (including unreported activity). Further research is required to develop the quality of data in order to narrow the range with confidence. 

The full report can be accessed here.

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.

UK meat plants and abattoirs, like many other sectors, are suffering a shortage of personnel during the Covid-19 crisis. However, the shortage is not just for operators in the plants, but also there is insufficient supervision by official veterinarians (OVs) and meat hygiene inspectors (MHIs) because of Covid-19 related sickness. In the face of these challenges the FSA, which has responsibility for meat hygiene, has drawn up contingency plans to try and deal with this situation. Measures include transferring qualified staff from other roles back to inspection, and bringing some qualified staff out of recent retirement. There is also the possiblitity to relax certain rules on inspection to ease the burden in meat plants and abattoirs.

Read the article here