Case Study
Consumer, Retail & Food

How BSI Helped Protect Food and Drink Supply Chains From Attack

Organizations from Tesco to Danone helped develop PAS 96.

Testimonial

“The work with BSI has been very beneficial. Addressing key industry topics and fast-tracking the provision of a standard has been most welcomed.”

Dr. Bizhan Pourkomailian Global Director of Food Safety, Restaurant & Distribution, McDonald’s

Evolving Safety

A critical safety gap in the food and drink industry

The sector is used to handling natural or accidental contamination cases. But deliberate attacks are a growing threat.

Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HAACP) principles were not designed to confront economically motivated adulteration, malicious contamination, espionage, extortion, counterfeiting or cybercrime – so the industry needed to evolve its defence.

The Challenge

Closing Critical Gaps in Food Defence Protocols

The industry was suffering from an absence of protocols surrounding all possible threats. In particular, organizations lacked knowledge of the Threat Assessment Critical Control Points (TACCP) method.

TACCP is a risk management framework that can help organizations to deter deliberate attackers or detect a threat quickly.

The UK’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) wanted supply chains to be more robust against deliberately harmful acts in order to protect the integrity and safety of food and food supply.

The challenge was twofold: to raise awareness of the dangers quickly, and to help organizations protect themselves.

The Solution

Safeguarding Food and Drink: Building Standards to Counter Malicious Tampering

Partnering with DEFRA, a Publicly Available Specification (PAS) – a fast-track framework backed by organizations seeking credible standards – was built to protect the industry from deliberate harm.

The PAS needed to cover all threats and protect every element of food, including the viability of businesses within the supply chain.

It would therefore help businesses to assess their vulnerability to fraud, cybercrime, ideologically motivated attackers and other insider threats.

The PAS was developed through a process that drew on the collective experience of stakeholders from a wide range of relevant sectors to provide a common, consensus-based standard.

Paving the way for food industry safety

DEFRA and the Food Standards Agency led the way in safeguarding the food industry. By implementing TACCP and PAS 96, companies can:

Demonstrate their commitment to food safety.
Protect and enhance their brand reputation.
Reassure their stakeholders.
Improve productivity and reduce costs.
Manage their risks better, both now and in the future.

The emerging threat of malicious food and drink tampering

Criminal activity around the adulteration of food and drink is rising – and organizations are eager for protocols to tackle saboteurs.

97%

A 2019 study showed that 97% of businesses wanted more best-practice guidance on food safety events.
85% increase

Cases of suspected food fraud across the EU increased 85% between 2016 and 2019.
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27,000 tonnes

27,000 tonnes of harmful foods were seized by Europol between December 2021 and May 2022.
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Testimonial

“The involvement of experts has given critical credibility to the standards published.”

Dr. Bizhan Pourkomailian Global Director of Food Safety, Restaurant & Distribution, McDonald’s

Why BSI

Trust BSI for Industry-Renowned Food Safety Standards

BSI, the UK's National Standards Body, offers safety credibility for food businesses. With over a century of experience, BSI's impartial processes is recognized with PAS standards, addressing evolving threats and promoting global compliance.