The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
New hotline launched in £1.2bn food crime fight
Fraud: Move follows scandal of horsemeat passed off as beef
A hotline has been launched to help combat the UK’s £1.2billion food crime problem in the wake of the horse-meat scandal.
Food Standards Scotland (FSS) has teamed up with charity Crimestoppers to create the free Scottish Food Crime Hotline.
Food crime is the deliberate manipulation, substitution, mislabelling or fraud in relation to food.
The new service will aid the FSS’s Scottish Food Crime and Incidents Unit, established following the 2013 discovery that horse meat was being passed off as beef in frozen foods.
The unit gathers intelligence, along with other agencies, to target food fraudsters who cost theUK food and drink industry an estimated £1.17billion annually. People will be able to anonymously call in their food crime suspicions using the hotline number 0800 028 7926 which will be operational round the clock. They can also report concerns using a nontraceable online form.
FSS chief executive Geoff Ogle said: “The intelligence we receive will be invaluable in advancing our work with Police Scotland and other agencies to hold to account thosewhoput consumer safety at risk for financial gain.”
Alex Neill, Which? director of policy and campaigns, said its research found food fraud ranging from fish and chip shops substituting whiting for haddock, to takeaways serving lamb dishes without any lamb.
He said: “Thehorse-meat scandal uncovered shocking failings with the authenticityof the food reaching our plates. We welcome the launch of this newfood crime hotline.”
NFU Scotland president Allan Bowie welcomed the launch of the hotline and said it would benefit producers. “The market for illicit food has meant that farmers, crofters and consumers have been impacted by the likes of horse-gate and illegal animal rustling in recent years and we welcome any progress that can be made to combat this through the food crime new helpline. NFUScotlandcontinues to push for consumers to be given more information about their food, including vitally important origin information. We commend Food Standards Scotland ( FS S ) and Crimestoppers in progressing this and will continue to work with Police Scotland andFSSto prevent foodand rural crime.”