Lantmännen Unibake prioritises risk management to keep food safe

How can you be sure the cumin you buy does not contain traces of peanut? Or that your sesame seeds are toxin-free?

The threat of food fraud has never been higher on the food industry agenda. At Lantmännen Unibake, our cross-functional teams evaluate our supply chain continuously to identify where threats may exist.

Closing loopholes

The goal is to close any loopholes that food fraud criminals may try to exploit – a failed harvest, an unsupervised lorry and inferior raw materials are among the possibilities.

“To secure our supply chain against fraud, it is necessary to consider every aspect, including the length of the supply chain, country of origin, past issues, economic factors and the nature of the raw material itself,” says Diane Burgess Ipsen, product quality and food safety manager.

 

“Horizon scanning keeps us up-to-date with matters such as the failure of a critical crop. Then we know someone may attempt to make money by tampering with the raw material supply.”

 

 

 

BRC 7

Following a series of high-profile food scandals, the British Retail Consortium published the BRC Global Standard for Food Safety Issue 7 in 2015, including new food defence measures. This requires BRC-accredited companies to implement robust systems to reduce their exposure to fraud and food tampering, where the aim is to cause harm or make money.

All companies with BRC 7 approval have such a system in place.

Certified to international standards

Lantmännen Unibake production facilities follow internationally recognised standards for food safety, quality management, environmental management and energy efficiency.

BRC Global Standard for Food Safety

The BRC Global Standard for Food Safety is an internationally recognised standard of the British Retail Consortium. It sets out best practices in food manufacture to ensure fulfilment of legal requirements and consumer protection. 

Issue 8 of the BRC Global standard was published in August 2018. The new standard has improved focus on food safety culture and environmental monitoring, and encourages further development of systems ensuring food security and defence.