Food fraud best practices due to be published in November

A document designed to help UK business combat food fraud is in the final stages of being prepared by the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH).

The Institute says it is currently working on the guidance for the food and drink industry that will "set out the problem of fraud, good practices around how to prevent fraud and where to seek out expert advice."

Eoghan Daly, CIEH's Policy and Technical Advisor for food, is one of the co-authors of the guidance and has been working alongside Jim Gee, Visiting Professor and Chair of the Centre for Counter Fraud Studies at University of Portsmouth.

"The food and drink industry already works hard to prevent instances of fraud. But they are not necessarily looking at the wider picture and this guidance will help them do exactly that," said Daly. "Ultimately this will help the industry better protect themselves and their customers."

Fraud is an important issue for all businesses whatever their size or the industry they work in, says the CIEH. Food businesses are not immune to fraud and there is potential to be victims of buying unadulterated food or dealing with a bogus company.

The report will be officially launched on November 2 at an evening event in central London.