We’ve got you covered: the Food Fraud Vulnerability Assessment Tool is compatible with Microsoft Excel versions 2004 onwards (file extension .xlsx) and Microsoft Excel for Mac, from 2011 and onwards. There are no macros in the spreadsheet.
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This tool is suitable for food fraud vulnerability assessments of:
This tool is designed for any business that is purchasing food, beverage or supplement ingredients, raw materials, intermediate products or finished products, including:
Yes, this tool has an ‘Initial Screening’ option that allows for a quick assessment of risk. Pre-filter or pre-screening processes are recommended by some experts as a means to quickly prioritise at-risk materials without having to complete a full-vulnerability assessment one each one. Initial screening results may satisfy the requirements of some food safety regulations and standards, but will not be sufficient to meet the requirements of GFSI food safety management system standards. Learn more about initial screening in this 2016 paper by Dr John Spink, Dr Douglas Moyer and Dr Cheri Speier-Pero of Michigan State University’s Food Fraud Initiative: Spink, et al (2016). Introducing the Food Fraud Initial Screening model (FFIS). Food Control (69), pp306–314.
To obtain an accurate calculated result you should answer all the questions. However, if you are short on time you can override the calculated results with your own estimates of likelihood and consequences. This means that if you already have a good understanding of the vulnerability of a material you may choose to simply enter your best estimates instead of completing all the data fields. Note that if you do this the resulting vulnerability assessment reports are unlikely to be acceptable to an auditor because they will not contain a complete explanation of how the assessment was performed. To obtain a complete report, every question should be answered.
Absolutely! You can change your answers at any time, then print or save a new report. It’s simple to review and update your assessments.
It is easy to override the calculated results if they don’t seem right for your product or material. The Vulnerability Assessment Tool calculates likelihood and consequences using information entered by the user, however you can also enter your own estimates. The overall vulnerability is determined by the user’s estimates if they have been entered; if not, calculated results are used.
The tool was created with Microsoft Excel because most of its intended users are familiar with Excel and so can begin entering data as soon as they open the spreadsheet, with no special training. Data can be copied, pasted and searched just as you would in any spreadsheet and results can be easily extracted for use in other documents. The tool can and should be incorporated into a company’s controlled documents and record-keeping systems and Microsoft Excel files are better suited to this purpose than special software or apps.
The tabular format of the data entry pages allows users to have a ‘whole picture’ visual understanding of the data that has been entered and the gaps that need to be filled. Other types of software such as questionnaire-style assessments do not provide a visual overview and require information to be entered in a defined series of steps which can be frustrating. Within the tables of the Vulnerability Assessment Tool, colour-coding functions provide instant feedback about whether an answer affects vulnerability in a positive or negative way, which can be a valuable learning tool.
Yes. The data can be copied, pasted, sorted and manipulated as in any spreadsheet. When copying from the tool use the Excel function ‘paste special – values’, which will prevent pasting formulas that might return error values in a different document.
Password protection has been applied to many of the cells in the spreadsheet. There are a number of reasons for this, the most important of which is so that users do not accidentally ‘break’ the formulas which would be very easy to do if it was unlocked.
This means that users are not able to make changes to the wording of the questions or the automatically generated answers. To get an idea of how the cells are protected, download our free trial spreadsheet: Try it free v3.0s
Want to buy an unlocked version that is fully customisable? Request a quote here.
No, you may make as many copies of this spreadsheet as you need for ONE food business in one manufacturing location. You may not share it with other locations, other food businesses or take it when you change jobs. You may not share it with your suppliers. For complete terms and conditions click here.
Real-time support is coming soon. Until then, please email support@foodfraudadvisors.com with your query, including your preferred contact details and geographical location (for time zone purposes). We will contact you by telephone or Skype or send an email, whichever you prefer.
If you disagree with the results the tool allows you to override them; the reported results are based on the user’s estimates if they have been entered; if not, calculated results are used.
If you think the methodology, including the risk calculations should be amended or you think there is an error in any formula please contact us. We want the Vulnerability Assessment Tool to be the best that it can and value your feedback.
Want to buy an unlocked version that is fully customisable? Request a quote here.
No problem; the Vulnerability Assessment Tool has been created without macros to keep things safe and secure and to prevent headaches with your IT department.
All purchasers receive an itemised receipt in their confirmation email. There are no taxes included in the purchase price, with the exception of purchasers in Australia who have 10% GST included in the purchase price.
Australian purchasers receive a tax invoice for GST purposes in their confirmation email.
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From the fun food facts files:
Did you know that the Dominos research center in Japan was trialling delivery by reindeer? A statement from the company said that it was a difficult decision to abandon the trial and reindeers are very difficult to control. Uh huh. Also from Japan and the first of its kind: a pen that can be safely used to write messages on banana skin. I never knew I needed one of those.
From Britain comes research that explains why aeroplane food never tastes really good. It isn’t just because it has to be pre-cooked and schlepped from kitchen to airport to thousands of feet in the sky and then reheated before you eat it, it is also due to the conditions inside a passenger plane which actually alter our perceptions of food. Within the cabin the atmosphere is very dry and the air pressure is lower than usual. This affects the way our tastebuds work. Low humidity decreases our sensitivity to odours, which are in fact the main conveyors of flavour. Oddly, the loud background noise also has an effect on how we perceive certain tastes, with salty and sweet tastes perceived less intensely. Loud background noise also makes food sound crunchier, which can change the apparent texture of food.
iPads. We love them. But do we love them enough to eat off them? Restaurants are serving food on the screens of ipads. One establishment serves a dish of truffle croquettes on an iPad that shows video of dogs searching for truffles. I wonder how they clean them afterwards?
Blue wine. It’s a thing. It has a gorgeous neon hue achieved with natural additives. But for Gik, the Basque company that makes blue wine, there are legal headaches on the horizon, as Spanish lawmakers grapple with the question of what can and cannot be called ‘wine’. Last month, Gik was fined by Spanish regulators for breaching European wine laws, which do not allow wine makers to add colourants that are not specifically approved in the oenological regulations. Unsurprisingly, blue colourants are not on the list. Gik is appealing the fine and has filed a petition. In the meantime, they have re-labelled and re-formulated their blue beverage by adding 1% grape must so that the product no longer needs to meet the rules for ‘pure wine’. It’s not available where I live, which is a shame because I would love to have a taste.
Cassia bark, which resembles cinnamon bark has been imported to India from China in large quantities in recent months. Cassia is a common diluent and substitute for cinnamon. Cassia bark is toxic. Just last year researchers found seven of ten samples of cinnamon bark in India to have been adulterated with cassia. India is the world’s largest exporter of spices.
Cinnamon is at very high risk of fraudulent adulteration, substitution and dilution and the increase in cassia trading has increased that risk. Purchasers of cinnamon should remain vigilant, and those purchasing in large volumes should implement authenticity testing regimes. Read more about cassia bark imports
For more news of emerging risks, check out our food fraud reports; no subscription required
There have been reports of illegal dyes found in jars of beetroot in Germany. The preserved beetroot contained Rhodamine B. This follows previous reports of adulteration of ‘natural plant extract’ colourants in Europe. The ‘natural’ extracts were supposedly made from hibiscus and beetroot but contained Reactive Red 195. Illegal dyes, including those designed for textile manufacturing are common food adulterants in developing countries, where they have been used by unscrupulous merchants in large-scale manufacturing, artisan food businesses and at the retail level. Developed countries are not immune. Purchasers of very brightly coloured food should remain vigilant to this risk.
A study in North America found toxic chemicals in one third of food packaging materials that are supposed to be safe for food contact. It is unusual for packaging to be tested for the purposes of fraud detection. The substitution of cheaper low grade packaging materials for food-grade materials would be very profitable. The cost of raw materials for plastic packaging is rising which increases the likelihood of food fraud. There is likely to be significant fraud occurring in the ‘food-grade’ plastics sector and this fraud can be expected to continue.
Free-range milk has been introduced to the United Kingdom by a large supermarket chain. There are no laws that define free-range milk in the United Kingdom. Premium priced ‘free-range’ milk is likely to be indistinguishable from other milks to the average consumer. There is a risk that unscrupulous operators will mis-declare milk as ‘free range’ or take advantage of the lack of legal definition of such. There is also a risk that some dairy brands may inadvertently breach their own claims about the number of days a herd has been outdoors. Milk from less well-known brands and small traders is most at risk of inaccurate claims around ‘free-range’.
Walmart in the USA has been accused of misleading consumers by marketing a mass-produced beer as a ‘craft-brew’. Ironically the beer is sold under the brand name ‘Trouble Brewing’. Craft beer attract significantly higher prices than mass-produced beer and is at high risk of being fraudulently marketed.
