Beware of food crime this festive season

Stay safe this festive season

Food crime can result in food and drink being sold to you which isn’t safe or isn’t what it claims to be. It costs the UK an estimated £1.17 billion per year.

Criminal activity in relation to the production or supply of food and drink which is deliberate, serious and dishonest can cause illness, and even death, in the worst cases.

Types of food crime

Food crime is a risk to public health and to the global reputation and economy of the UK food and drink industry. Here are the types of food crime to look out for:

Food fraud - swapping or adding cheaper, lower quality or dangerous ingredients.
Document fraud - fraudulently using the identity of a genuine food business or using falsified documents to assure the quality of a product.
Illicit goods – selling a product as something it isn’t, such as counterfeit alcohol e.g. fake vodka or wine.
Illegal slaughter – slaughtering farmed and wild animals under conditions which don't meet animal welfare or hygiene standards.
Mislabelling - deliberately falsifying information on food labels; for example, saying it's Scottish produce, free range or organic when it's not.
Unfit food - allowing food to be sold that could be a risk to consumers; from putting animal by-products back into the food chain to changing use-by-dates.

What to look out for

Food or drink that is significantly cheaper than you’d expect it to be
Cheap alcohol being sold on online market places
Slimming tablets and/or fat busters online, such as DNP (a toxic chemical which can be sold as a weight loss supplement).
Concerns at your place of work about food production e.g. extending durability dates, using poorer quality or substandard products and false and deliberate claims over the country of origin of a product.

Who to contact

Your can contact your local police on 101, or in an emergency call 999.

You can report crime 100% anonymously to us on 0800 555 111 or via our online form.

In the case of fraud, you can also contact Action Fraud.