UK to establish food police unit

An independent report by Professor Chris Elliott from Queen’s University Belfast, suggesting that the UK needs a special food police unit to look into crime in the food industry, has received backing from the government.

The report, titled the Elliott Review into the Integrity and Assurance of Food Supply Networks — Final Report, uses the Danish and Dutch food crime units, which were set up in 2006 and 2002 respectively, as examples that the UK could emulate.

The Elliott report stems from the 2013 horse meat scandal that rocked Europe, where organised crime was discovered to be substituting cheap quality horse meat for beef in both fresh and packaged products. Elliott was asked to make suggestions that would help in deterring, identifying and prosecuting food adulteration.

The report clarifies that the unit will be set up to investigate organised crime in the food industry rather than low grade infraction of the law or harmless minor breaches of technical regulations.

The report says: "The government must take action to prevent and deter criminal activity, requiring effective cooperation at a strategic level across the UK, Europe, and internationally."

As a response to the report, the British government has said that it will set up the new food crime unit to ensure a resilient network of laboratories that would test food consistently. It will also aim to improve coordination across government to protect food integrity and tackle food crime.