fiin (Food Industry Intelligence Network)

🎄 Fiin's 2024 round-up and future plans🎄 As 2024 comes to a close, it’s a great time to reflect on our activities this year and share what’s ahead in 2025. This year, we were delighted to welcome three new members, expanding our network to 67 organisations. Our database now includes over 369,000 test results, and we’ve enhanced our quarterly reports with historical trend analysis to provide valuable insights into emerging and established risks. To support our members further, we launched a new webinar series in partnership with the Food Authenticity Network, focusing on testing methodologies and data interpretation. We’re also building a library of member case studies to share experiences, learnings, and best practice in addressing authenticity challenges. We launched new fiin-funded coordinated testing projects. Varietal testing of Basmati rice is underway, with a second project on adulteration of red spices planned for early 2025. We’re also excited to launch an SME Hub in the first part of the year, offering tailored support to help smaller businesses combat food fraud. Keep an eye on this page for updates! A huge thank you to all our members and everyone we work with for your support and contributions this year. Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!🎉 Link to full 2024 review: https://lnkd.in/eTE7sA2M #fiin #FoodAuthenticity #Collaboration #YearInReview #MerryChristmas #HappyNewYear

We are delighted to announce the appointment of a new fiin Board member, Debbie Barnes of Marks & Spencer, succeeding Paul Dobson of Premier Foods. She will also take up the role as Chair of fiin’s Technical Steering Group. Debbie brings a wealth of experience to fiin, with 14 years at Marks & Spencer, and technical expertise across chilled and ambient foods and raw material supply chains. Prior to joining the retail sector, Debbie worked within food manufacturing for 15 years, in technical and operational roles including technical director of multiple sites with end-to-end accountability for food safety, quality, integrity, legality and sustainability. Debbie is also an accredited counter fraud specialist and leads the Marks & Spencer Food Integrity and Intelligence Programme.    Her long-standing commitment to fiin includes her active role on the Technical Steering Group since its inception, where she has played a vital role in guiding members on maintaining the integrity of food supply chains and safeguarding consumer interests. Helen Sisson, co-chair of the fiin Board, said: “We sincerely thank Paul for his exceptional contributions to fiin since its establishment in 2015. As a founding Board member, Paul played a pivotal role in shaping fiin’s vision and was instrumental in driving cross-category expertise and delivering additional value to the membership through his role as Chair of the Technical Steering Group. We are thrilled to welcome Debbie to the fiin Board and look forward to her valuable contribution to fiin’s continued success.”

Academics, regulators, and the Food Industry unite to combat food fraud 🥼📜🍽️ fiin is proud to support the Horizon Europe EFF-CoP project, lead by our independent board advisor Saskia van Ruth, bringing together 5,000+ stakeholders to advance food authenticity and traceability. As an advisory partner, we’re excited to contribute to this important initiative as it progresses. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/eFiKeUqz

🌍 Key takeaways from Food Integrity Global 2024! 🌍 Food Integrity 2024 in Amsterdam was a hub of insightful discussions around the pressing challenges facing the food industry. From food fraud and AI innovations to sustainability and food safety culture, fiin’s Sophie Lawrence shares key insights from the event. Highlights include: - Tackling food fraud and the upcoming European Food Fraud Community of Practice initiative led by Professor Saskia van Ruth - How AI and technology can enhance food safety, as discussed by industry leaders like Heinz's Lee Reece and Pilgrim's Europe - The critical role of food safety culture 🛡️ and sustainability initiatives 🌱 that don't compromise safety, emphasised by experts such as Carla Belo Serpa from Unilever Read the full article below 👇 #FoodIntegrity2024 #FoodSafety #Sustainability #FoodFraud #AI #Technology #fiin

We were delighted to hold this webinar for our members with the Food Authenticity Network and Food Forensics Ltd, which generated a great discussion in the Q&A on SIRA testing. Members will soon be able to access a link to the recording via the members area of the website.

🔍 𝗳𝗶𝗶𝗻 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟰 𝗙𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗖𝗿𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗰 𝗔𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 The Food Standards Agency’s National Food Crime Unit (NFCU) and Food Standards Scotland's Scottish Food Crime and Incidents Unit (SFCIU) have released their Food Crime Strategic Assessment 2024, highlighting the evolving risks in the UK food supply chain. While the report confirms that most food remains safe and authentic, it serves as a reminder of the need for vigilance, as recent disruptions have opened up new avenues for food crime. The assessment draws on a wide range of sources, including industry intelligence and sampling, identifying key risks and sharing best practices to strengthen our collective response. It highlights the importance of collaboration between regulators, industry, and stakeholders to protect the integrity of our food system. 👉 Find out more here: https://lnkd.in/eVu-_BnU

  Final reminder for fiin members to sign up for our webinar on stable isotope ratio analysis (SIRA)   Do you want to learn more about stable isotope ratio analysis (SIRA)? Tomorrow, we’re holding a webinar between 11am-12am with the @food-authenticity-network to give our members the opportunity to learn more about how SIRA can be used to prevent food fraud.   You can learn more about: 🍴 Principles of SIRA 🍴 Uses and applications 🍴 Interpreting results Sign up at the link below for the webinar tomorrow, 17th September 👇 🔗 https://bit.ly/3MIT2gK   NB. This webinar is exclusively for fiin members – if you’re interested in joining fiin, please visit https://lnkd.in/eKfKiqKm

We welcomed 130 food industry professionals to our annual members meeting this June for a thought-provoking day of seminars and interactive workshops. Delegates from a wide range of industries, including manufacturing, retail and food service, had the chance to listen to some of the sector’s leading figures about developments in food authenticity, food crime prevention and supply chain resilience. With a varied list of topics from analytical methods and artificial intelligence, through to working together and collaboration, the day provided a lot of food for thought. A big thanks to our speakers Professor Saskia van Ruth (University College Dublin) and Ron McNaughton (Food Standards Scotland) for making the event such a success. You can read more here: https://lnkd.in/eD_7Xjkm

Next month, fiin is holding its annual members’ meeting, an opportunity for representatives from across the food and drink supply chain to come together.   Held in Marylebone, London, the meeting will include keynote talks from member organisations, workshops and presentations from industry experts.   The event is also an opportunity for fiin to update its network of member organisations on activity and how fiin is working with industry and regulatory bodies such as the Food Standards Agency to combat food fraud in the supply chain. #FoodIntelligence #FoodFraud #FoodSupplyChain

Will you be attending the Food Safety Networking Event on 12 June? Ran by The Food and Drink Federation, it features expert guest speakers giving their insights on a range of topics. Sign up on the link below 👇