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

Government Pathetic on Knife Crime

Admittedly this blog is dedicated to the IT and Information Management sector. However, I'm sure that this sector, like all sectors, will be worried about the recent knife crime epidemic and have their own views on it. Therefore, due to my strong views on this I thought I would air them.

It seems simple to me. People who carry knives should get a mandatory jail sentence. I would go as far as to say one that carries a bit of meaning with it. 3 years minimum.

Knives like guns are lethal weapons and if people take them out in public, be it for "protection" or "kudos" on the street they are taking the risk that they or someone else will use that knife to cause serious injury and as we have seen so regularly recently even death. Therefore, if this government really valued protecting innocent civilans and establishing safe streets they would implement new strict laws on this rather than keep changing their minds on soft policies like showing the users of knives the injuries they can cause. Im sure the press coverage recently has done that. That sort of tactic is more useful for prevention rather than stopping people who have already used knives.

In another slight deviation, i think that any budding entrepenuer should seriously look into building a prison, hiring some experienced security staff and then hiring it out to the Government. It seems clear to me that they will require some more prison space soon!