Counterfeit vodka seizure cued up by Food Standards Agency's Intelligence IT systems

Intelligence gathered by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) through its national food fraud database, provided by intelligence software experts Memex, has led police, customs and trading standards and environmental health officers to raid four premises in London, resulting in the seizure of hundreds of bottles of counterfeit vodka.

The intelligence was received by the FSA after it published an alert to local authorities across the UK about counterfeit SPAR Imperial Vodka which contained potentially harmful levels of methanol. The levels recorded could have serious health effects, including blindness, if consumed in large quantities. Documents seized at the premises led officers to three further locations where more counterfeit vodka was seized. The FSA’s national food fraud database was first established in 2006 to allow the Agency to share information with local authorities and law enforcement agencies. The centralised Memex system stores and analyses intelligence on food fraud and helps the Agency to identify links between fraudulent activities and co-ordinate multi-agency investigations.

Sarah Appleby, Head of Enforcement at the Food Standards Agency, said: “The Agency plays an important role in gathering intelligence on food fraud from across the country and sharing it with local authorities to allow them to carry out their vital enforcement role effectively. Using Memex’s technology we can analyse the information from all sources and remove potentially dangerous goods from the market, reducing the risk to consumers.”

David Carrick, CEO of Memex, said: “The database we provide to the FSA allows for an increase in the flow of intelligence across all the relevant agencies, both domestically and internationally. The technology is capable of linking even the most tenuous of information so the Agency can identify emerging patterns. This case is a great example of how our technology can be used to help identify and track fraudulent activity and organised crime.”

* - Article from Publictechnology.net