Food crime costing UK almost £2 billion a year

The food safety watchdog has launched a new freephone number to make it easier for people to report suspected food fraud as it revealed related crimes cost the UK economy up to £2 billion a year.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) said the new phone number would allow people to speak up and share their concerns as part of efforts to “strengthen the collective response” to tackling food crime.

FSA chief executive Emily Miles announced in May that the agency was exploring ways to prevent criminal activity in the food industry following fraud allegations in the meat sector.