From food defence to food supply chain integrity

摘要

Purpose – Consumer confidence in the European food industry has been shaken by a number of recentudscandals due to food fraud and accidental contamination, reminding the authors that deliberate incidents canudoccur. Food defence methods aim to prevent or mitigate deliberate attacks on the food supply chain but areudnot a legal requirement. The purpose of this paper is to discuss how proactive and reactive food defenceudpractices can help prevent or mitigate malicious attacks on the food chain and also food fraud, food crime andudfood safety. The authors look at how food defence differs from food safety and how it contributes to foodudsupply chain integrity.udDesign/methodology/approach – Food defence has been the focus of two different EU FP7 securityudprojects, EDEN and SNIFFER. Food industry stakeholders participated in workshops and demonstrations onudfood defence and relevant technology was tested in different food production scenarios.udFindings – Food industry end-users reported a lack of knowledge regarding food defence practices. Theyudwished for further guidelines and training on risk assessment as well as access to validated test methods.udNovel detection tools and methods showed promise with authentication, identification, measurement,udassessment and control at multiple levels of the food supply chain prior to distribution and retail.udPractical implications – The prevention of a contamination incident, prior to retail, costs less than dealingudwith a large foodborne disease outbreak. Food defence should therefore be integral to food supply chainudintegrity and not just an afterthought in the wake of an incident.udOriginality/value – It is argued that food defence practices have a vital role to play across the board inudunintentional and intentional food contamination incidents. The application of these methods can help ensureudfood supply chain integrity.