According to recently released survey information, awareness of the Food Standards Agency’s (FSA) special food crime unit among small businesses is still at low levels.
Knowledge of the National Food Crime Unit (NFCU) was minimal, with less than one in five aware of it, slightly down from 20 percent in 2021.
However, the share of companies that had fallen victim to food crime in the past twelve months remained low: 8 percent, compared to 7 percent in 2021.
A total of 556 interviews were conducted October and November 2023. All interviews took place in small and micro businesses (ranging from fewer than 10 to 49 employees) in England, Northern Ireland and Wales. A similar study was last conducted in 2021.
Of those businesses that were aware of the NFCU, less than half were aware of the NFCU’s online assessment tool to help their business prevent food crime.
Nearly one in ten companies was a victim of food crime last year. Supplying or offering a food product that was believed to have been stolen was the main problem encountered. Other crimes included supplying a deliberately mislabelled product, a product that had been illegally produced or prepared, or a food product destined for waste disposal.
Food safety and hygiene
Participants expressed confidence in food safety and hygiene standards and regulations, with at least eight in ten agreeing that: regulations are effective in protecting the public from food-related risks; be reasonable for businesses to meet; be enforced in a fair and constructive manner; add value to their business; and are easy and practical in observance.
More than four in five were confident that British companies ensure food is safe to eat; unsafe food is properly withdrawn/recalled; information on food labels is accurate; food hygiene ratings are displayed; Records are kept of where the food comes from and this information can be shown upon request.
More than half of the companies had written procedures on how to deal with a recall. About half of these respondents never perform mock recall exercises.
Companies were more concerned about food from outside the UK being safe and hygienic, or what it says it is, compared to food from within the UK.
From a list of potential issues, companies reported that the top barriers to success were: changes in consumer behavior and demand due to the cost of living; high inflation or higher interest rates; and energy costs. A quarter were concerned about meeting food standards or safety requirements.
These concerns are different from 2021, when the most common threats were food supply availability or supply chain disruption and changes in consumer behavior and demand due to COVID-19.
Only 6 percent of companies had ever subscribed to the FSA news and alert service. Six in 10 said they knew only a little about the FSA or had only heard of the agency.
Most companies were confident that the FSA is working hard to ensure food safety and standards are maintained and improved. Nine in ten were confident the agency is good at identifying poor standards and taking appropriate action.
In 2023, 14 percent of businesses used third-party platforms to sell food, up from 15 percent in 2021. The most used platforms were Just Eat, Deliveroo and Uber Eats.
Nine in ten companies that sold food directly to consumers provided information about allergens in the food they sell. The majority, 72 percent, of those who did not provide this information sold prepackaged food and thus would not have provided this information directly.
The most common way to provide allergen information was verbally upon request and in writing as a separate notice on the display.
Nearly all respondents have provided staff with some form of training on food safety guidelines and regulations, but this is down 5 percent from 98 percent in 2021.
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