Employers across the food sector are starting to establish whistleblowing channels to help their employees report concerns about discrimination, fraud and other abuses.
But while many other business sectors have recognised they need to do more to prevent or reduce corruption, bad behaviour and human rights abuses, the food industry is still lagging behind others.
Problems exist across the food industry, where several food production scandals – for instance the horsemeat scandal of the last decade – have brought wrongdoing in the food supply chain into sharp focus.
Add to this an increased awareness of modern slavery occurring within supply chains through forced labour – with one UK government statistic estimating 13% of all potential forced labour victims come from the food sector – and we can easily see why both consumers and businesses are concerned.
The simple fact is, that having a whistleblowing service with anti-bribery and anti-food crime clauses in place within supply chain contracts should be one of the most basic elements of commercial arrangements.
Whistleblowing hotlines and protocols can prevent or reduce a range of crimes in the sector. A list of food crime, as defined by the NCFU and refined following the 2013 Horsemeat Scandal in Europe report, include:
Theft - dishonestly obtaining food,...
A pair of former executives at fund manager Blue Horizon Asset Management are being sanctioned by the U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) amid allegations that they made false statements in a...