Food crime boss on three achievements

Morling listed the unit’s top achievements as: forging strong partnerships with local authorities, engaging with global law enforcement agencies and building a greater understanding of nature of the threat posed by food crime.

“I’m really proud of how we [the Food Crime Unit] engaged with local authorities,” Morling told FoodManufacture.co.uk.

‘Eyes and ears on the ground’

“There are 400 or so throughout the UK. It’s vital we have close relationships with them because they are our eyes and ears on the ground.”

Liaising with global law enforcement was another achievement listed by the food crime boss. The UK was “ahead of the curve” in responding to food and drink crime – partly due to the focus lent by the horsemeat crisis.

Finally, he identified a better understanding of the threat from food and drink crime as being a major step forward over the past year. His team had discovered evidence of crime throughout the food and drink industry supply chain spanning five key areas: production, manufacture, retail, logistics and disposal.

Disappointment

Morling also admitted disappointment at being unable to build stronger relationships with food and drink manufacturers in a bid to persuade them to share their suspicions about crime more freely with his team. The Food Crime Unit is to publish a document later this month to remedy that problem.

Morling was speaking at Food Manufacture’s Food Safety Conference 2016 in London on Thursday October 13. The event was sponsored by Appetite Learning, GTS, Sealed air, Testo and the University of Greenwich.

Meanwhile, anyone with information about food crime is invited to contact the unit, in confidence,  by telephone, on 0207 276 8787 or email foodcrime@foodstandards.gsi.gov.uk.