To assist the Incidents and Resilience Team in their intelligence gathering they have asked that we circulate a few questions to our members for consideration on their behalf:

• The FSA have reports of difficulties sourcing dextrose monohydrate a product derived from maize starch as well as difficulties in sourcing supplies of maize starch. At the moment they see these as labelling issues with business encouraged to discuss derogations with their LA partners. They don’t anticipate any food safety issues as long as no change in ingredients which affects the allergen status. Any additional information or views on the food safety elements from industry on this? Any other reports of other ingredient shortages?
• Based on reported evidence of shortages of packaging materials, the increased price of packaging materials, and the incoming plastic in packaging tax from April 22 – are there concerns from members about lower standards in food packaging. Are there any concerns from a food safety perspective and how does industry plan to manage these concerns?
• There are widespread reports of concerns in reductions in availability of workers including agency staff. There is an assumption that has led to higher percentages of newly trained staff as well as shortfalls in availability of staff to cover certain key functions. What if any are the food safety concerns from members on these shortages?
• Reports of large manufacturers stating that current pressures are ‘unprecedented’, and that they are struggling to meet customer demand, with service levels significantly lower than previously experienced. In addition, there are reports that EU customers are potentially seeking financial compensation from suppliers for breaching contracts. What do member’s fear most over the coming months, bearing in mind industry responsibilities to ensure food is safe and is what it says it is? Have you identified any heightened incidence of, or risk of exposure to, specific forms of food fraud?
• There have been suggestions of specific strains within supply into food service, particularly with regards to supply into private sector catering and hospitality. Does this tally with current experiences within the sector and if so, how successfully are businesses managing to secure safe and authentic food to deal with the seasonal spike in hospitality demand? Has inflexible festive demand led to riskier sourcing decisions or any specific incidences of food safety or food fraud?

Members are more than welcome to send any feedback to deniserion@bfff.co.uk for collation. We will then anonymise and send onto the FSA on your behalf. However, should you wish to contact the FSA directly then please send directly to receiptandmanagement@food.gov.uk.

On 20^th January, we attended an FSA led Food Industry Liaison Group (FILG) meeting where we received the latest updates from the Incidents and Resilience Team.

One area we always cover at that meeting is what is referred to as ‘complex signals’. This is information that has been gathered from sources globally, highlighting potential and emerging issues relating to food, feed, and food contact materials.

The FSA have kindly allowed us to share with members a summary of the complex signals discussed, which amongst other things includes:

• Mustard contamination of wheat crops
• Ethylene oxide contamination of various products
• Increase in foreign body incidents

You can access the complex signals summary for January 2022 here

The FSA are also asking for your help in a couple of specific areas:

• The FSA is sampling leafy veg for lead, cadmium, mercury, and arsenic and would welcome any data you willing to share.
• Following concerns about the availability for commercial tests for Ethylene oxide and Shiga Toxin Producing Escherichia Coli (STEC) the FSA would find it useful to have a wider understanding of the food analysis landscape, including any issues faced by industry. All feedback on this would be most welcome including any detail on samples being lost when sent outside the country.

Please send any information on the above to deniserion@bfff.co.uk and we will happily collate and feed back to the FSA on your behalf. Note: all information will be anonymised unless you expressly wish your identity to be divulged.