Food crime: reporting and preventing it
Overview
Food crime and fraud can take place in food supply chains, including drinks and animal feed. Types of food crime include:
- theft - stealing food, drink or animal feed for profit
- illegal processing - slaughtering or preparing meat in places or ways that are not approved
- waste diversion - taking food, drink or feed that should have been thrown away and putting it back into the food supply chain
- adulteration - adding something that is not listed on the label, to cut costs or make the product seem better quality
- substitution - swapping food or ingredients for cheaper or lower quality options
- misrepresentation - wrongly labelling or selling a product to mislead people about its quality, freshness, safety or where it came from
- document fraud - making, using or holding fake papers to sell or market a product that is not what it claims to be
You could be fined or even sent to prison if you commit food crime or fraud.
You can report food crime online or over the phone.
If you’re a business, make sure you avoid food crime.
This guide is also available in Welsh (Cymraeg).