Food incidents
What food incidents are and what needs to be done when they happen.
What's on this page:
What is a food incident?
A food incident is defined as any event where there are concerns about actual or suspected threats to the safety, quality or integrity of food/feed that may need action to protect consumers’ interests.
The word ‘quality’ in this case includes standards, authenticity and composition. The term ‘food incident’ includes animal food, or ‘feed’ incidents.
When a food incident happens, the Scottish Food Crime and Incidents Unit (SFCIU) will support public bodies such as local authorities to protect the health of consumers.
Scottish Food Crime and Incidents Unit - BSL
Food incidents are split into two categories, which may overlap:
- hazardous incidents are incidents involving (or suspected to involve) a food hazard, or the condition of any food, with the potential to cause an adverse effect on the health or safety of consumers (including outbreaks of foodborne disease and/or infectious intestinal disease)
- non-hazardous incidents that do not have the potential to cause an adverse effect on the health or safety of consumers but may impact on the food supply chain. These may include issues of quality, provenance, authenticity, composition, and the provision of food information
Within each of these categories there may be elements of dishonest intent, which therefore indicate the potential presence of food/feed fraud or, when present at a greater scale, food crime.
What do food businesses need to do when an incident happens?
When a food business operator has reason to believe that a food or feed incident has occurred, it is legally required to:
- inform their local authority
- inform Food Standards Scotland where relevant
- withdraw the product if it has not yet reached the final consumer
- recall the food product if it has reached the final consumer
- notify their local authority when a product is withdrawn or recalled
When the food business operator informs the local authority of the incident, they will be able to advise of any action to be taken.
Some products may not meet food standards requirements but are still safe to consume. For example, where there is an error with labelling or quality. In this case, the food business operator may wish to withdraw the product to avoid the risk of prosecution.
Access our withdrawals and recalls guidance for more information on how to withdraw or recall a product.
Food or feed incident report form
Food Incident Report Form
Withdrawals and recalls guidance
New guidance and tools for withdrawing or recalling unsafe food
Food incidents
A food incident is where concerns about actual or suspected threats to the safety or quality of food requires intervention to protect consumers.
