Free Tool to Fight Food Fraud Released
A free tool to help food companies to assess their food fraud vulnerabilities was released on Monday, December 12. The tool was developed by SSAFE in partnership with PwC, Wageningen University, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and food industry leaders around the world.
“Recent food fraud incidents have increased the need to strengthen the food industry’s ability to detect and combat fraud across food supply chains,” SSAFE Executive Director Quincy Lissaur said. “As a non-profit organisation SSAFE believes protecting consumers is vital. By developing this free tool we hope to help strengthen companies’ internal controls while reducing opportunities to adulterate food for economic gain.”
SSAFE is a non-profit membership driven organisation that aims to foster the continuous improvement and global acceptance of internationally recognized food protection systems and standards through public-private partnerships. These include relationships forged with the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) in Paris and Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) in Rome to the World Bank in Washington D.C.
PwC estimates that consumer confidence is hurt by food fraud, costing the global industry US$30 to $40 billion a year. PwC research also found that more than one in three of all organisations are victimised by fraud.
PwC Ireland Retail, Consumer & Food Industries Leader John Dillon said: “Food supply chains are now vast webs of tangled transactions that are continuing to expand and become more complicated. Customer expectations on quality and value are increasing, competition is driving down margins. So, is it really surprising that we increasingly hear of new problems in the food supply chain?
“Beyond the economic cost, food fraud can harm public health and damage brand and consumer trust. Crises happen, even to the best companies, but they have a choice: think about the vulnerabilities now, don’t be overconfident in underestimating your vulnerability and develop mitigation strategies focused on disruption avoidance and supply chain integrity.”
The free tool is available at: www.ssafe-food.org and www.pwc.com/foodfraud
