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Official website about the fight and prevention of food fraud and QAliment Newsletter
Published on 03 April 2020
Spain
This is the good practice's implementation level. It can be national, regional or local.
About this good practice
This practice is linked to the desire to promote knowledge and support to the sector with information aimed at food business operators about food fraud prevention and food quality, mainly legislation, interpretive documentation, information sheets, news about events and conferences, control and inspection results, alerts, etc.
The basic objective of this practice is to facilitate compliance with regulations related to food quality and fraud and to ensure the quality of their products.
The context which triggered the introduction of this practice was because it was checked that many companies (especially SME) had no information on these matters and this was a cause of regulatory non-compliance and normative doubts.
The practice is implemented with information and tools on:
1/ Official web of Department of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Food in different sections:
1.1. Fight against food fraud: http://agricultura.gencat.cat/ca/ambits/alimentacio/lluita-frau-alimentari/
1.2. Compulsory labelling: http://agricultura.gencat.cat/ca/ambits/alimentacio/etiquetatge/etiquetatge-aliments/etiquetatge-obligatori/
- Inside there are also specific sections for certain foods (wines, vegetable oils, meat and meat products, fish products, fruits and vegetables, honey, etc.)
2/ QAliment Newsletter - A monthly newsletter to provide food companies with the information they need to comply with regulations: http://agricultura.gencat.cat/ca/dar_butlletins/butlleti-qaliment/
The basic objective of this practice is to facilitate compliance with regulations related to food quality and fraud and to ensure the quality of their products.
The context which triggered the introduction of this practice was because it was checked that many companies (especially SME) had no information on these matters and this was a cause of regulatory non-compliance and normative doubts.
The practice is implemented with information and tools on:
1/ Official web of Department of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Food in different sections:
1.1. Fight against food fraud: http://agricultura.gencat.cat/ca/ambits/alimentacio/lluita-frau-alimentari/
1.2. Compulsory labelling: http://agricultura.gencat.cat/ca/ambits/alimentacio/etiquetatge/etiquetatge-aliments/etiquetatge-obligatori/
- Inside there are also specific sections for certain foods (wines, vegetable oils, meat and meat products, fish products, fruits and vegetables, honey, etc.)
2/ QAliment Newsletter - A monthly newsletter to provide food companies with the information they need to comply with regulations: http://agricultura.gencat.cat/ca/dar_butlletins/butlleti-qaliment/
Resources needed
Mainly the resources needed are human resources (food fraud inspectors and other technicians) who select and prepare the information to disseminate: 15 part-time people
Financial resources used to set up and to run the practice: 35.000 euros/year 2019, variable each year depending on the documents
Financial resources used to set up and to run the practice: 35.000 euros/year 2019, variable each year depending on the documents
Evidence of success
From the beginning of the practice our Unit, it is verified that the number of visits and views to the web are high and many companies demand this type of information and consult it.
Number of visits to web pages on food quality and the fight against fraud: 10.750 (2019)
Number of views to web pages on food quality and the fight against fraud: 126.289 (2019)
Number of QAliment Newsletter: 11/year
Number of people registered to the newsletter: 1.047 (31-12-2019)
Number of visits to web pages on food quality and the fight against fraud: 10.750 (2019)
Number of views to web pages on food quality and the fight against fraud: 126.289 (2019)
Number of QAliment Newsletter: 11/year
Number of people registered to the newsletter: 1.047 (31-12-2019)
Potential for learning or transfer
This practice is very interesting to share with other regions, as a sample of collaboration between the control administration and food companies, quality technicians, certifiers, advisers, etc. Especially, the information that is prepared in an informative and practical way, to facilitate the understanding of the norms and to know the interpretations.
Further information
Website
Good practice owner
You can contact the good practice owner below for more detailed information.
Organisation
Regional Government of Cataluña
Spain
Cataluña
Contact
Agrifood inspector