Food manufacturers need to ensure that they maintain factory audits and supply chan assessments to preserve food safety, particularly in times of supply shortages, LRQA has said.
According to the global assurance partner, manufacturers could be at growing risk of food fraud if they do not take the correct precautions when selecting new suppliers.
Events such as those in Ukraine – where the recent Kakhovka dam burst flooded hundreds of thousands of hectares of land being used for agriculture – are expected to have a significant impact on food supply, particularly wheat, the price of which already reached a record high last year.
As a result of this turbulence in the market, food manufacturers may need to seek new suppliers, and LRQA is warning firms to be extra vigilant when doing so.
Read More: Ukraine Puts Grain Exports At 48.4 Million Tonnes So Far In 2022/23 Season
'Worldwide Food Crisis'
“The current situation has been referred to as a worldwide food crisis, and the EU and UN have both issued ‘serious risk’ warnings," commented Kimberly Coffin, global technical director for supply chain assurance at LRQA.
"Because of this, we must be vigilant against all forms of food fraud, and we are urging all food producers to take the necessary safeguards to defend supply chain integrity and safeguard consumers.”
LRQA urged businesses to ensure that international standards are maintained, and suppliers – inclusive of source and/or origin – have been verified.
Integrity Of Supply Network
“Only when a food brand can demonstrate the integrity of their supply network can they be confident of the absence of unadulterated food and the subsequent mis-labelling risks," Coffin added.
"Adulterated, mis-labelled food may lead to regulatory sanctions and have serious implications for consumer safety. Considering that the food industry has already faced so many challenges in the past few years, some businesses could be devastated by a significant food fraud incident, such as the horse meat scandal in 2013.
"The food industry at every stage of supply must remain vigilant in the defence against food fraud.”
© 2023 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest supply chain news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
